THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — French welterweight Nordine Taleb, a training partner of Georges St-Pierre, will make his Bellator debut against unbeaten American Matt Secor on the undercard of Bellator 64 on April 6 at Caesars Windsor.
Taleb (6-1) trains with the UFC welterweight champion in Montreal. His last fight was a TKO win over veteran Pete (Drago) Sell last November in Ring of Combat.
New York’s Secor (3-0) is coming off a submission win over Matt Dempsey last July.
Also on the Bellator 64 undercard, Chad Laprise (4-0) of Chatham will face Josh Taverine (2-0) of Windsor in an all-Ontario battle.
The previously announced main event features Douglas (The Phenom) Lima against welterweight champion Ben Askren.
Askren (9-0) is a former U.S. Olympic wrestler who is coming off a split decision win in October over Season 4 welterweight tournament winner Jay Hieron at Bellator 56.
Lima (21-4) knocked out former UFC fighter Ben Saunders at Bellator 57 in November in Rama, Ont., the organization’s first foray into Canada. He has fought in Windsor before, successfully defending a belt against Terry Martin in the Edmonton-based Maximum Fighting Championship’s first trip to Ontario last April.
Bellator 64 will also host the semifinals of Season 6’s featherweight tournament featuring 145-pounders Marlon Sandro, Ronnie Mann, Alexandre (Popo) Bezerra and Daniel Straus.
Caesars Windsor hosted MFC 29 last April. Lima fought on that card, defeating Terry Martin.
Bellator 67 is set for May 4 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ont.
