Bellator MMA featherweight champion Pat Curran has been added to the promotion’s upcoming pay-per-view event and will defend his title against Daniel Straus.
Curran (19-4) is unbeaten in Bellator’s featherweight division and has lost just once – a decision to former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez in April 2011 – in the last three years.
Straus (21-4) won Bellator’s Season 6 Featherweight Tournament Final in May 2012 to earn the title shot, but a hand injury postponed his opportunity to fight for the championship.
“Pat Curran’s one of the best mixed martial artists we have in the game today,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a press release Tuesday.
“Before breaking his hand Straus was a fixture in the Top 10 rankings with a huge amount of talent. Curran vs. Straus is a fight I’ve wanted to see since Daniel won the tournament a year ago last May. This should be an epic world title fight and our PPV provides the perfect stage.”
The event — which is headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between former UFC champs Quinton (Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz — is Bellator’s first foray into the PPV market.
Also on the card is a lightweight title bout between Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez, plus an interim light-heavyweight title bout between Muhammed (King Mo) Lawal and Emanuel Newton.
This won’t be the first time Curran and Straus lock horns either; Curran knocked Straus out back in April 2009 at an Xtreme Fighting Organization event in Lakemoor, Ill., before either man debuted in Bellator.
Curran also holds wins over UFC lightweight Mike Ricci, former UFC star Roger Huerta, plus Marlon Sandro, Joe Warren and Patricio Freire all under the Bellator banner.
“I’ve been with Bellator since the beginning, and seen my career grow as Bellator has,” Curran stated. “It means the world to me to be able to defend my title on our first Pay-Per-View, especially with such a tough fight ahead of me.
“I’m not taking Straus lightly. He is an incredibly tough featherweight, and I’m not even thinking about our first fight in 2009, we are two totally different guys right now. This card is stacked, and I want to give Bellator and all our fans a great show.”
Since his loss to Curran, Straus has gone 17-1 with 10 of those wins coming by unanimous decision.
“I’ve faced so many setbacks over the last year, and my title shot is finally here,” Straus said. “When Pat and I met in 2009, we were two completely different fighters. Both of us have developed so much in that time, but I still want that loss off my record.
“That fight taught me a lot about where I was as a fighter, especially considering I’ve gone 17-1 since we last met. I’m just excited to be able to get a chance to fight for a title on a huge stage like this. I really don’t know how this fight is going to end, but I envision it going quickly. This won’t be a long, drawn out process. I’m going in for the kill.”
