Bellator 183: Henderson vs. Pitbull fight card

Bellator MMA has a very good main card lined up for fans at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson returns to action against perennial Bellator lightweight contender Patricky Pitbull, who’s coming off a KO win over Josh Thomson. One of the storylines for this one is the fact that Henderson recently fought Patricky’s brother, current featherweight champion Patricio Freire, but Patricio lost by TKO after suffering a midfight injury.

The co-main event pits new heavyweight signing Roy Nelson against Javy Ayala, who’s best known for his stunning KO win over Sergei Kharitonov. One matchup that has flown completely under the radar is Paul Daley against Lorenz Larkin, which honestly is more than good enough to headline its own Bellator event, and it’s not even the co-main event this weekend.

Oh yeah, and there’s going to be a “flying cage.” This is one of those Bellator MMA/Bellator Kickboxing hybrid shows, and the flying cage is making its US debut. From the official press release:

A must-see spectacle, the steel structure is suspended from above and lowered to the platform beneath allowing the Bellator Kickboxing ring to completely transform into the Bellator MMA cage in less than 15 minutes. Having been featured at previous events in Florence, Italy, Torino, Italy and Budapest, Hungary, the Flying Cage has never before been utilized in the United States. Bellator is proud to bring this unique experience to its Bay Area home at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on September 23.

Bellator Kickboxing 7: Ross vs. Lomurno is not airing live, by the way.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap on the MMA side for Saturday, September 23rd:

Main Card (9 PM ET, Spike)

Ben Henderson vs. Patricky Freire
Javy Ayala vs. Roy Nelson
Paul Daley vs. Lorenz Larkin
Adam Piccolotti vs. Goiti Yamauchi
Justin Linn vs. Aaron Pico

Preliminary Card (6:30 PM ET, Online)

Brooke Mayo vs. Kaytlin Neil
Fernando Gonzalez vs. Alex Lopez
Gaston Bolanos vs. Brandon Laroco
Tony Johnson vs. Mike Ortega
Justin Tenedora vs. Ricardo Vasquez
Jaimelene Nievera vs. Corina Herrera
J.J. Okanovich vs. Luis Jauregui
Daniel Gonzalez vs. Anthony Castrejon