Bellator 159 will take place on tomorrow night at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas and will be headlined by a title eliminator fight in the bantamweight division as Darrion Caldwell will look to remain unbeaten as he faces Joe Taimanglo.
Along with the number one contender fight in the bantamweight division, the main card on Spike will feature David Rickels fighting in his home state of Kansas as he faces Melvin Guillard in a bout that will likely play out on the feet.
Check out a breakdown of the fights that will be on the main card broadcast on Spike.
Darrion Caldwell (8-0, 1NC) vs. Joe Taimanglo (22-6)
Since dropping down to bantamweight last year, Darrion Caldwell has gone 3-0 in the division and has won his last two fights by submission in the opening round. He is 5-0, 1NC since entering Bellator in 2014 and he recently signed a contract extension with the promotion.
- Tied with Eduardo Dantas and Zach Makovsky for the most submission wins in Bellator bantamweight division history.
- Won his Bellator debut by submission in 50-seconds against Lance Surman at Bellator 112 and this is the fastest submission victory in Bellator featherweight division history.
- Four of his eight wins have come by stoppage and all of those wins have come in the opening round.
Just like Caldwell, Joe Taimanglo entered Bellator as a featherweight and he made the drop to bantamweight in 2014. Since losing his bantamweight debut against Rob Emerson, he has won three fights in a row and is coming off a decision win against Sirwan Kakai in March at Bellator 151.
- Tied with Caldwell for the fourth-most wins in Bellator bantamweight division history.
- Won thirteen of his last fifteen fights.
- Sixteen of his twenty-two wins have come by stoppage (5 TKO/KO, 11 Submission).
David Rickels (17-4, 1 NC) vs. Melvin Guillard (32-16-2, 2 NC)
Following his win over Bobby Cooper in February at Bellator 150, David Rickels will look for back to back victories for the first time since 2013 when he faces Melvin Guillard in the co-main event of the fight card. Rickels has gone 3-3, 1NC in his last seven fights and this will be his sixth Bellator fight to take place in Mulvane, Kansas.
- This will be the seventeenth fight for Rickels in Bellator, which is the most in the history of the promotion.
- Currently tied for the third-most wins in Bellator history.
- His 22-second win against Jordan Smith at Bellator 63 is the fifth fastest victory in Bellator welterweight division history.
Melvin Guillard enters Bellator 159 with three straight defeats and has gone 2-6, 1NC in his last nine fights. After losing his Bellator debut against Brandon Girtz by split decision last year, he returned to the Bellator cage in February and lost by knockout against Derek Campos at Bellator 149.
- Most knockdowns landed in UFC lightweight division history.
- Twenty-one of his thirty-two victories have come by TKO/KO.
- His last victory came 748 days ago (2 years, 17 days) against JZ Cavalcante at WSOF 11.
Bruna Vargas (2-0) vs. Emily Ducote (2-1)
Bellator 159 will mark the Bellator debut of Bruna Vargas and this will be her first fight since 2014. After winning her pro debut by submission against Thaiane Souza, she won her second fight by decision against Rafaela Garcia.
- First fight in 835 days (2 years, 3 months, 13 days).
- Her submission win in pro debut came by guillotine choke.
This will also be the Bellator debut for Emily Ducote and she enters this fight with back to back victories. Her most recent win came in May at Xtreme Fight League 29 as she defeated Jianna Denizard.
- All of her fights have gone the distance.
- Third fight of 2016.
Daniel Weichel (36-9) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (13-2)
It was thirteen months ago that Daniel Weichel nearly became the Bellator featherweight champion against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. However, Pitbull would be saved by the bell and Weichel would end up being finished in the second round. He enters this fight following a decision victory against Georgi Karkhanyan and has gone 5-1 in the Bellator cage.
- Three of his last four wins have come by decision.
- Twenty-one of thirty-six wins have come by submission.
- Season Ten Bellator Featherweight Tournament Winner.
Emmanuel Sanchez enters Bellator 159 following three straight split decision victories and is 5-1 in Bellator. His most recent win came in February as he defeated Daniel Pineda at Bellator 149.
- Won nine of his last ten fights.
- Three of his five submission wins have come by rear-naked choke.
- Last stoppage victory came 651 days ago (1 year, 9 month, 12 days) against Stephen Banaszak at Bellator 128.
The current Bellator 159: Caldwell vs. Taimanglo fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Darrion Caldwell (9-0) vs. Joe Taimanglo (22-6)
David Rickels (17-4, 1 NC) vs. Melvin Guillard (32-16-2, 2NC)
Bruna Vargas (2-0) vs. Emily Ducote (2-1)
Daniel Weichel (36-9) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (13-2)
Preliminary Card: (Bellator.com – 6:45 p.m. ET/3:45 p.m. PT)
Marcio Navarro (14-12) vs. Fernando Martinez (14-10-1)
Johnny Marigo (1-0) vs. Andy Riley (2-1)
Gaston Reyno (5-1, 1 NC) vs. L.J. Hermreck (3-1)
Bruna Ellen (2-0) vs. Jessica Middleton (0-0)
Philipe Lins (9-1) vs. Guilherme Viana (7-2)
Trey Ogden (5-1) vs. Manny Meraz (8-2)
Chris Harris (6-0) vs. Matt Foster (6-8)
Chuka Willis (8-2) vs. Brandon Phillips (5-1)
Josh Pfeifer (4-2) vs. Henry Lindsay (5-5)