The Russian’s championship fight was officially announced by representatives of the organization. According to a press release distributed by Bellator, this confrontation has lost the status of the grand prix final, and at stake in the match will be only the championship belt in the lightweight division. The Bellator lightweight grand prix, the winner of which was to receive one million dollars, is not mentioned at all.
Last November, the head of the California State Athletic Commission, Andy Foster, announced that Usman Nurmagomedov had failed a doping test and was disqualified for six months, and that his fight with Brent Primus, which took place in the semifinals of the Bellator lightweight grand prix and ended with the Russian winning by unanimous decision, had been ruled a no contest.
In the quarterfinal matchup, undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov finished Benson Henderson with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
Alexander Shabliy reached the finals, finishing Tofik Musaev by TKO and then defeating former Bellator champion Patricky Freire by unanimous decision.
The second main event of the French Bellator event will be a featherweight title fight between the division’s reigning champion, Patrick Meeks, and fourth-ranked Magomed Magomedov. The fight will be a rematch – in December 2022, the Russian suffered the first early defeat of his career, losing to the American by guillotine choke in the second round.