SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — (December 8, 2016) – A featherweight showdown pitting Georgi Karakhanyan (26-6-1) against Emmanuel Sanchez (13-3) has been added to the main card of “Bellator 170: Ortiz vs. Sonnen” on January 21, 2017 inside The Forum in Los Angeles, Calif.
Tickets for this monumental event start at $36 and are on sale now at Bellator.com, as well as Ticketmaster.com. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.
Karakhanyan delivered one of the most spectacular performances of his 10-year career at “Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull,” when he knocked out Bubba Jenkins just 53 seconds into the contest. Karakhanyan then followed that victory up with another early stoppage, ending Kirill Medvedovsky’s evening via TKO just 3:40 into the first frame at “Bellator 164: Koreshkov vs. Lima 2.” With 20 of his 26 career wins coming by way of stoppage, “Insane” looks to add to that total and finish “El Matador,” something nobody has been able to accomplish.
“El Matador” will be making his eighth appearance under the Bellator MMA banner, a promotion with which the 26-year-old has had much success to date. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he trains at the famed Roufusport gym, Sanchez is riding a recent string of success, having won nine of his last 11 contests, including three of the past four. Six of Sanchez’s 13 career victories have come by way of knockout or submission, with five of the finishes ending in the opening frame. Sanchez was supposed to compete against A.J. McKee at “Bellator 167: Caldwell vs. Taimanglo 2,” but was forced out of the bout after suffering multiple muscle strains during training. Since signing with Bellator MMA, “El Matador” has competed against a who’s who of talent, facing names the likes of: Pat Curran, Justin Lawrence, Henry Corrales, and Daniel Weichel.
The fight joins a main card that is headlined by a legendary clash between veterans Tito Ortiz (18-12-1) and Chael Sonnen (28-14-1). In addition, Ralek Gracie (3-0) against Hisaki Kato (7-2) will also be featured on the main card, as will what promises to be an absolute slugfest, when Paul Daley (38-14-2) meets Brennan Ward (14-4). The event will be broadcast live and free on SPIKE at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and the Bellator Mobile App.
Updated “Bellator 170: Ortiz vs. Sonnen” Main Card:
Light Heavyweight Main Event: Tito Ortiz (18-12-1) vs. Chael Sonnen (28-14-1)
Welterweight Co-Main Event: Paul Daley (38-14-2) vs. Brennan Ward (14-4)
Middleweight Main Card Bout: Ralek Gracie (3-0) vs. Hisaki Kato (7-2)
Featherweight Main Card Bout: Georgi Karakhanyan (26-6-1) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (13-3)
Bellator.com-Streamed Preliminary Card:
Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Gabriel Green (3-0) vs. Jalin Turner (2-2)
Catchweight Preliminary Bout: Christian Gonzalez (2-0) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (2-0)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Jacob Rosales (4-2) vs. Ian Butler (3-2)
Welterweight Preliminary Bout: Johnny Cisneros (9-5) vs. Curtis Millender (9-3)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Mike Segura (4-4) vs. Tommy Aaron (2-1)
Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Rob Gooch (4-3) vs. James Barnes (6-2)
