During the Bellator 123 broadcast on Friday night, the promotion announced that Bellator 131 will take place on Saturday, November 15th from the Valley View Casino Arena in San Diego and will be headlined by Tito Ortiz meeting Stephan Bonnar.
In addition to the main event, Bellator also announced that Will Brooks and Michael Chandler will have a rematch from their fight at Bellator 120 in the co-main event and the fight will be for the vacant lightweight title.
Ortiz (17-11-1) won his Bellator debut in May when he defeated middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko in a light heavyweight bout. He will be looking for his first back to back victories since 2006 when he meets Bonnar and this fight is personal for Ortiz.
“This fight is as personal as it gets,” Ortiz said. “I don’t dislike many people but I can honestly say I hate Stephan Bonnar. I’m not just going to beat Bonnar, I’m going to torture him. This fight is for my fans and the MMA world. Stephan Bonnar is a phony and I’m going to show the world he isn’t on the same level of a fighter as I am. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is back for this fight because #BitchBoy Bonnar is getting a bad beating from me.”
Bonnar (15-8) was signed by Bellator last week and this will be his first fight since coming out of retirement. He will be stepping into the cage for the first time since 2012 when he was defeated by Anderson Silva and tested positive for a banned substance following the event.
“It’s a great honor to fight a former world champion and a true legend of the sport like Tito, his skills and accomplishments cannot be denied,” Bonnar said. “Unfortunately, his character certainly can. This is a guy, Tito Ortiz, who’s screwed over everyone that has supported and helped him throughout his career, and I have no mercy for a selfish, self-absorbed guy like Tito. I’m not going in there just to hit him on the chin and be done. That’s not what this fight is about. He’s going to suffer, I’m going to savor every minute I have in there with him. I’m going to close his eyes, punish his body, then take a step back, so I can do it some more.”
Brooks (14-1) defeated Chandler in May by split decision to win the interim lightweight title. However this fight will be for the vacant title and he wants to finish what he started in the first fight.
“I can’t wait to fight Chandler again and continue to progress from the last fight, Brooks said. “I feel that I found a weakness in his armor with the last fight, and came very close to breaking through and finishing him. I’m going to push him again, this time I’m going to break him, there will be no trilogy fight between Chandler and I. I’m going to finish what I started the first fight and expose him for what he is, a one dimensional fighter.”
Chandler (12-2) has lost back to back fights and both defeats came by split decision. He will be looking to become a two-time Bellator champion and will look to get his belt back in San Diego.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to fight Will again,” Chandler said. “I believe I’m the better fighter than I showed last time and I look forward to getting my belt back in front of a huge San Diego crowd.”
More fight bookings will be announced by Bellator in the coming weeks.