Bellator will be returning to the SAP Center in San Jose, California on Saturday night for Bellator 154 and the event will be headlined by key bout in the light heavyweight division as Phil Davis meets Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
The fight card will begin with the online preliminary card on Bellator.com and will feature several California based prospects. Following the conclusion of the online preliminary card, the main card will begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and the co-main event of the card will see Saad Awad moving up to the welterweight division to meet Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.
Check out a breakdown of the four fights that will be on the main card broadcast on Spike.
Phil Davis (16-3, 1 NC) vs. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (19-4, 1 NC)
Davis won the one-night, four man lightweight tournament last year with wins over former Bellator light heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton and Francis Carmont. Both of the victories came by stoppage in the opening round and he is 6-2 in his last eight fights.
- Nine of his sixteen wins have come come by stoppage (3 TKO/KO, 6 Submission).
- His knockout win over Carmont in the tournament final was his first TKO/KO win since 2009 against Terry Cohens at Ultimate Warrior Challenge 6.
- Submission victories have come via rear-naked choke, anaconda choke and kimura.
Lawal was also in the one night tournament, but he was forced to withdrawal from the tournament due to an injury following his win against Linton Vassell. He enters this fight after winning the Rizin FF heavyweight Grand Prix at the end of 2015 and he is currently on a seven fight winning streak.
- Most TKO/KO wins (5) in Bellator light heavyweight division history.
- Second most wins (7) in Bellator light heavyweight division history and with a victory, he will tie Newton and current Bellator champion Liam McGeary for the most wins in divisional history.
- Two of his three wins in the Rizin FF tournament came by knockout in the opening round.
Evangelista Santos (21-16) vs. Saad Awad (18-7)
Santos made an immediate impact in the Bellator welterweight division last month when he submitted Brennan Ward by heel hook in 30 seconds at Bellator 153. It was his second straight win and has won three of his last four fights.
- His win in 30 seconds over Ward is the fastest submission in Bellator welterweight division history.
- The submission over Ward was his sixth career win by submission and first since 2006.
- Sixteen of his eighteen stoppage wins have come in the opening round.
Awad is moving up to the welterweight division to take this fight on short notice and this will be his first fight since losing a decision to Patricky “Pitbull” Freire at Bellator 141 last year. The defeat snapped a three fight winning streak and he is 6-4 in Bellator.
- Tied with Eddie Alvarez, Michael Chandler and David Rickels for the second most TKO/KO wins in Bellator lightweight division history.
- His five wins in Bellator lightweight competition is tied for fifth most in Bellator lightweight history.
- Tied for the second fastest win in Bellator lightweight division history with his 31-second victory against Guillaume DeLorenzi at Bellator 87.
Adam Piccolotti (7-0) vs. Ray Wood (7-1)
Piccolotti is considered one of the top lightweight prospects in Bellator and he has gone 3-0 in the promotion. After winning his promotional debut by decision, he has won his last two fights by submission and is coming off a rear-naked choke win against Mario Soto at Bellator 147.
- Tied with multiple fighter for the fourth most submission victories in Bellator lightweight division history.
- Three of his last four wins have come by submission.
- Five of his seven wins are by finish (2 TKO, 3 Submission).
Wood is returning to Bellator after taking a fight outside of the promotion, which was a decision win against Brandon Phillips at Evolution Fighting Championship 3 last month. He won his Bellator debut by TKO in March at Bellator 151 against Chris Jones and he enters this fight with back to back victories.
- Only gone the distance once in his career.
- Six wins by stoppage (4 TKO/KO, 2 Submissions).
- His submission wins have come via armbar and guillotine choke.
Andre Fialho (6-0) vs. Rick Reger (7-1)
Fialho did not waste any time in his Bellator debut in February as he scored a knockout victory in 29-seconds against Manuel Meraz. It was his fourth straight victory to come in the opening round and he has only made it out of the opening round once.
- The victory against Meraz is the sixth fastest TKO/KO win in Bellator welterweight division history.
- Since winning his pro debut by submission, his last five victories have come by TKO/KO.
- His average fight time is 2:30 and his last two fights have ended in less than a minute.
Reger is making his Bellator debut and is coming off a TKO win in October against Tramain Smith at Gladiator Challenge and all of his professional victories have come in that promotion. His only career defeat came at the beginning of 2014 at RFA 12 as he was submitted by current UFC fighter James Moontasri.
- Six of his seven wins have come by stoppage (2 TKO/KO, 4 Submission).
- Only made it to the third round once in his career.
- Submission wins have come via rear-naked choke and guillotine choke.
The current Bellator 154: Davis vs. Lawal fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)
Phil Davis (15-3, 1 NC) vs. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (19-4, 1 NC)
Evangelista Santos (21-16) vs. Saad Awad (18-7)
Adam Piccolotti (7-0) vs. Ray Wood (7-1)
Andre Fialho (6-0) vs. Rick Reger (7-1)
Preliminary Card: (Bellator.com – 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT)
Josh San Diego (6-1) vs. Jeremiah Labiano (9-4)
James Chapman (0-0) vs. Sean Tucker (0-0)
Andres Alcantar (3-0) vs. Nick Pica (5-0)
Victor Jones (0-1) vs. Anthony Taylor (0-1)
Danasabe Mohammed (3-0) vs. Martin Sano (4-1)
Josh Paiva (7-1) vs. Steven Gruber (5-1)
Sam Spengler (8-5) vs. Doyle Childs (2-1)
Joshua Hardwick (0-0) vs. Jorge Acosta (1-1)
Stephanie Frausto (5-5) vs. Jamielene Nievara (3-1)
Thomas Diagne (5-5-1) vs. Mark Dickman (10-2)