Bellator 177 takes place on Friday at the Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary and will be headlined by a catchweight bout as bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas will face Leandro Higo in a non-title fight.
The four fight card on Spike (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) will also feature two of the top featherweights in Bellator looking to secure a title shot in the 145 pound division as Daniel Weichel looks for his fourth victory in a row when he meets John Teixiera. Rounding out the rest of the card will be a a women’s flyweight bout as Lena Ovchynnikova meets Helen Harper and Adam Borics looks to remain undefeated when he takes on Anthony Taylor.
Now let’s take a closer look at the four fights that will take place on Friday at Bellator 177.
Eduardo Dantas (19-4) vs. Leandro Higo (17-2)
Dantas became a two-time Bellator bantamweight champion last year when he defeated Marcos Galvao by unanimous decision at Bellator 156. He has won nine of his ten fights in Bellator and he enters this fight with three straight unanimous decision victories.
- Currently tied with Ben Askren, Eddie Alvarez, Will Brooks, Brennan Ward and Liam McGeary for the fifth-most wins in Bellator history.
- Tied with Marcos Galvao for the most TKO/KO wins in Bellator bantamweight division history and is tied with multiple fighters for the most submission wins in Bellator bantamweight division history.
Higo was recently signed by Bellator after winning the inaugural Legacy Fighting Alliance bantamweight title and was a late replacement into this title fight when Darrion Caldwell was forced to pull out of the event due to an undisclosed injury. He is currently on an eight fight winning streak and six of those wins have come by stoppage.
- Ten of his seventeen wins have come by submission.
- Three of his last six victories have come in the opening round.
Daniel Weichel (38-9) vs. John Teixeira (21-1-2)
Weichel is one of the most successful featherweights in Bellator history and is coming off a submission victory in December at Bellator 169 against Brian Moore. The submission victory marked his first stoppage victory in two years as his previous submission win came against Desmond Green in the season ten featherweight tournament final.
- Tied with A.J. McKee for the 5th most wins in Bellator featherweight division history.
- Currently tied with six other fighters for the most submission victories in Bellator featherweight division history.
- Won ten of his last eleven fights and holds a decision victory over current CES MMA featherweight champion Matt Bessette.
The Bellator debut of Teixeira took place in 2014 and he has gone 4-0 in the promotion. Since his exit from the UFC in 2012, he has gone 9-0-1 and three of his four victories in Bellator have come by split decision.
- Enters Bellator 177 with five straight victories by decision and his last stoppage win came in 2014 by submission.
- Fourteen career victories by stoppage and ten of those wins are via submission.
- Only competed once in 2016, which came in December at Bellator 167 against Justin Lawrence.
Lena Ovchynnikova (11-4) vs. Helen Harper (4-1)
After dropping her Bellator debut last year against Rebecca Ruth at Bellator 150, Ovchynnikova enters his fight following a decision victory over Karla Benitez at Bellator 164. She went 1-1, 1NC in 2016 and her last four fights have made it to the third round.
- Eight of her eleven wins have come by submission.
- Looking for back to back victories for the first time since 2011.
Bellator 177 will mark the Bellator debut of Harper, who is stepping into mixed martial arts competition for the first time since 2015. Three of her four wins have come by stoppage and her only career defeat came in 2015 against Cortney Casey.
- This is the first fight for Harper in 692 days (1 year, 10 months, 22 days).
- Both of her TKO victories have come in the first round.
Adam Borics (5-0) vs. Anthony Taylor (1-2)
Borics is making his Bellator debut after scoring a triangle choke submission victory last year against Manuel Bilic at Final Fight Championship 23. Three of his five wins have come by submission and four of his five professional fights took place in 2015.
- All of his submission have come via triangle choke.
- First fight in 392 days (1 year, 27 days)
Taylor is a training partner of Bellator featherweight A.J. McKee and all of his professional fights have taken place in Bellator. His most recent fight came in December at Bellator 169 and he was submitted in the third round by James Gallagher.
- His victory over Victor Jones in 27-seconds at Bellator 154 is the fifth fastest victory in Bellator featherweight division history.
- Both of his defeats have come via rear-naked choke submission.
The complete Bellator 177: Dantas vs. Higo fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) *
Eduardo Dantas (19-4) vs. Leandro Higo (17-2)
Daniel Weichel (38-9) vs. John Teixeira (21-1-2)
Lena Ovchynnikova (11-4) vs. Helen Harper (4-1)
Adam Borics (5-0) vs. Anthony Taylor (1-2)
Preliminary Card: (Unaired)
Brian Moore (9-5) vs. Michal Horejsi (5-2)
Patrick Szombat (1-2) vs. Mate Kertesz (3-0)
- – Fight card is airing via tape delay.