Bellator will be returning to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on Friday night for Bellator 153 and the event will be headlined by a title fight as Andrey Koreshkov defends the welterweight title against former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson.
The main card on Spike will begin at a special start time of 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and along with the title fight, the main card will also see the return of former Bellator featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire as he faces Henry Corrales in the co-main event of the fight card.
Check out a breakdown of the five fights that will be on the main card broadcast on Spike.
Andrey Koreshkov (18-1) vs. Benson Henderson (23-5)
Koreshkov won the Bellator welterweight title last year at the Mohegan Sun Arena as he defeated Douglas Lima by unanimous decision in the main event of Bellator 140. He enters this fight on a five fight winning streak and his only career defeat came against Ben Askren at Bellator 97.
- Tied for most wins (9) in Bellator welterweight division history (Ben Askren).
- One of two fighters to win multiple Bellator welterweight tournaments (Douglas Lima).
- Second most TKO/KO wins (5) in Bellator welterweight division history.
- Holds the 8th fastest TKO/KO win in Bellator welterweight division history (:41 vs. Nah-Shon Burrell, Bellator 112).
Henderson signed with Bellator earlier this year and this will be his promotional debut. The former WEC and UFC lightweight champion moved up to welterweight last year and went 2-0 in the division with victories against Brandon Thatch and Jorge Masvidal.
- Holds the 5th best strike differential rate in UFC lightweight division history (+1.53).
- 6th best takedown accuracy in UFC lightweight division history (54.2%).
- 10 wins by submission.
Patricio Freire (24-3) vs. Henry Corrales (12-2)
Bellator 153 will mark the first fight for Pitbull since losing the Bellator featherweight title in November against Daniel Straus. He lost that fight by decision and it was his first defeat since losing a decision to Pat Curran at Bellator 85 in early 2013.
- Most wins in Bellator history (12).
- 3rd most cage in Bellator history (3:16:23).
- Currently tied with multiple fighters for the 2nd most fights (15) in Bellator history (David Rickels has the most with 16).
- Holds the 3rd latest stoppage victory in Bellator title fight history with his win over Straus at Bellator 132 (4th, 4:49).
- Most TKO/KO wins (6) in Bellator featherweight division history and tied for 3rd most in Bellator history.
Corrales took this fight on two weeks notice after John Teixeira pulled out of the fight with an injury. He has lost both of his fights in Bellator and his most recent defeat came in September against Emmanuel Sanchez by split decision at Bellator 143.
- 10 of his 12 wins have come by finish (4 TKO/KO, 6 Submissions).
- 39% Striking Accuracy rate in Bellator (101/255).
- Started his career with five straight wins by submission.
Brennan Ward (13-3) vs. Evangelista Santos (20-16)
Ward has won four in a row since dropping down to the welterweight division and is coming off a submission win against Ken Hasegawa at Rizin FF 2. During his winning streak, all of the wins have come by stoppage and three of the victories have come in the opening round.
- Tied with multiple fighters for the 5th most wins (8) in Bellator history.
- Tied for the 4th most TKO/KO wins (5) in Bellator history.
- Has only gone the distance once in his career (vs. Harley Beekman, CES MMA: Never Surrender).
Santos returned to MMA competition for the first time in nearly two years back in January as he defeated Artenas Young at Legacy FC 50. He has won two of his last three MMA fights and this will be his Bellator debut.
- 17 of his 20 wins have come by finish (14 TKO/KO, 3 Submissions).
- Out of his 16 defeats, 10 have come by TKO/KO.
- Holds a decision victory over current Bellator light heavyweight Francis Carmont.
Michael Page (9-0) vs. Jeremie Holloway (7-1)
After being unable to compete earlier this year, Page returns to the Bellator cage seeking his tenth career MMA victory. He is coming off a TKO win in October against Charlie Ontiveros and this will be his third straight fight to take place at the Mohegan Sun.
- 8 of his 9 wins have come by stoppage (6 TKO/KO, 2 Submissions).
- Holds the fastest victory in Bellator welterweight division history (:10 vs. Ryan Sanders, Bellator 93).
- Tied with Lyman Good for the 3rd most TKO/KO (4) wins in Bellator welterweight division history.
Holloway lost his Bellator debut in October by submission against Matt Secor. Six of his eight fights have ended in the first or second round and this will be his first fight since losing to Secor at Bellator 144.
- 5 of his 7 wins are by finish (3 TKO/KO, 2 Submissions).
- Both of his submission wins have come by guillotine choke.
- Had 7 fights in 2015.
Brent Primus (6-0) vs. Gleristone Santos (27-5)
Primus is considered one of the top lightweight propects for Bellator and this will be his first fight since August of last year when he scored a split decision victory against Derek Anderson. The fight against Anderson was the first time he made it out of the opening round and two of his three wins in Bellator have come by submission.
- All of his submission wins (4) have come by rear-naked choke.
- Tied for the 4th most submission wins in Bellator lightweight division history.
- His only TKO win came at Bellator 111 against Chris Jones.
Santos is returning to the lightweight division after dropping his Bellator debut as a featherweight. The defeat at Bellator 143 against John Teixeira snapped a nine fight winning streak and it was his first defeat since losing to Carlo Prater in 2011.
- 15 wins by finish (9 TKO/KO, 6 Submissions).
- Has a record of 12-2 when the fight goes to the scorecards.
- 8 of his 15 stoppage victories have come in the opening round.
The current Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike TV – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Andrey Koreshkov (18-1) vs. Benson Henderson (23-5)
Patricio Freire (24-3) vs. Henry Corrales (12-2)
Brennan Ward (13-3) vs. Evangelista Santos (20-16)
Michael Page (9-0) vs. Jeremie Holloway (7-1)
Brent Primus (6-0) vs. Gleristone Santos (27-5)
Preliminary Card: (Bellator.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Chris Honeycutt (6-1, 1NC) vs. Matt Secor (7-2)
Sam Watford (1-0) vs. Dean Hancock (2-0)
Chris Foster (8-4) vs. Vovka Clay (3-0)
Mike Zichelle (7-4) vs. Joe Cronin (19-16)
Matt Bessette (17-7) vs. Keith Richardson (14-6)
Tim Caron (3-0) vs. Justin Sumter (0-0)
Blair Tugman (7-6) vs. Jay Perrin (2-1)
Djamil Chan (11-2) vs. Richard Patishnock (6-3)