Bellator 74 main card set with welterweight tourney, Good-Wallhead headliner

Last Updated on August 14, 2012.

Bellator 74 main card set with welterweight tourney, Good-Wallhead headliner

by MMAjunkie.com

A Season 7 welterweight tournament will take center stage at Bellator 74.

Officials today announced the nearly complete lineup for the Sept. 28 event, which takes place at Caesar’s Atlantic City in Atlantic City, N.J.

In the MTV2-televised headliner and one of four opening-round tournament bouts, former champion Lyman Good (12-2 MMA, 5-2 BFC) meets Jim Wallhead (23-6 MMA, 1-1 BFC).

Good is 2-1, which included a close Season 4 tournament loss to Rick Hawn, since losing his title to Ben Askren in 2010. He now takes on Wallhead, whose only loss in his past 11 fights came to Hawn in a Season 4 tournament fight. Most recently, “Judo Jim” has knocked off big-show vets Frank Trigg and Joey Villasenor under the BAMMA banner.

Other opening-round tournament fights include Andrey Koreshkov (10-0 MMA, 2-0 BFC) vs. Jordan Smith (17-3-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC), Tim Welch (9-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Michail Tsarev (23-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC), and Nordine Taleb (8-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) vs. Marius Zaromskis (18-6 MMA, 2-0 BFC).

Overall, the tournament competitors have a combined record of 120-23-1.

The prelims, which stream on Spike.com, include featherweights Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra (13-2 MMA, 5-1 BFC) vs. Jeff Smith (10-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC), lightweights Derrick Kennington (6-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC) vs. Phillipe Nover (5-4-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC), featherweights Brylan Van Artsdalen (6-4 MMA, 0-4 BFC) vs. Jay Haas (10-9 MMA, 0-1 BFC), middleweights Kelvin Tiller (4-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) vs. Plinio Cruz (5-5 MMA, 0-1 BFC), and bantamweights Claudio Ledesma (6-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC) vs. Kenny Foster (10-6 MMA, 3-3 BFC).

Female fighter Munah Holland (5-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) also will compete against an opponent to be named.

The latest Bellator 74 card includes:

MAIN CARD (MTV2)

  • Lyman Good vs. Jim Wallhead – welterweight-tourney opening round
  • Andrey Koreshkov vs. Jordan Smith – welterweight-tourney opening round
  • Michail Tsarev vs. Tim Welch – welterweight-tourney opening round
  • Nordine Taleb vs. Marius Zaromskis – welterweight-tourney opening round

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com)

  • Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra vs. Jeff Smith
  • Derrick Kennington vs. Phillipe Nover
  • Jay Haas vs. Brylan Van Artsdalen
  • Munah Holland vs. TBD
  • Plinio Cruz vs. Kelvin Tiller
  • Kenny Foster vs. Claudio Ledesma