Bellator 59 Fight Card Primer: Phillipe Nover vs. Marcin Held

With injury comes opportunity and former TUF finalist Phillipe Nover has his opportunity to reintroduce himself to the MMA world Saturday at Bellator 59 against Marcin Held.

Nover/Held was originally slotted for the non-televised portion of the card, but an injury to main card fighter Michael Costa this week resulted in the fight being bumped up to TV. A source close to the situation said Lyman Good turned down two replacement options and was removed from the card completely, thus the opportunity for Nover and Held to make their presence felt to a national TV audience.

Best remembered for having a huge fan in UFC President Dana White ("a young Georges St. Pierre") during the eighth season of TUF, Nover (6-3-1) was released in early-2010 from the UFC after three straight losses. He disappeared for 18 months and resurfaced on a regional show in August, picking up a unanimous decision win over Jake Murphy. He was later inked by Bellator and will make his debut Saturday.

Held (11-2) returns to Bellator for the first time since losing to Michael Chandler by first round submission earlier this year. The 19-year-old (yes, he's that young) got back to his winning ways in September with a first-round submission victory at an Australian event. The Polish Held has been a pro since September 2008, competing solely in his native country before making his Bellator debut.

How do these two stack up?

Nover: 27 | 5'9" | Preferred form of victory: submission (50%)

Held: 19 | 5'9" | Preferred form of victory: submission (55%)

Why should I watch?

On paper, this could be a fun ground battle with plenty of submission attempts. Both guys will be looking for a slot in the next lightweight tournament and it should be interesting to see if Bellator has found anything in a potentially revitalized Nover.

SBN coverage of Bellator 59