Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title holder Tito Ortiz will step inside the Bellator cage for the fourth time in his career. He also says it’ll be the last time. Sharing the cage with him will be former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen, who is making his Bellator debut.
This bout will be contested in the 205-pound division.
Executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) Andy Foster (via MMAFighting.com) revealed Sonnen and Ortiz have passed all of their out-of-competition drug tests heading into their showdown at Bellator 170 next Saturday night (Jan. 21) inside The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Sonnen had passed a “full WADA panel” before “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was drug tested. Barring any last minute mishaps, Ortiz vs. Sonnen will take place on Spike.
The main card action will begin at 9 p.m. ET. The co-main event will showcase a welterweight battle with two heavy hitters. Former UFC, Strikeforce, EliteXC, and BAMMA competitor Paul Daley will mix it up with former Bellator middleweight contender Brennan Ward.
Ralek Gracie has not competed in a mixed martial arts (MMA) bout in over six years. He will make his return, but he was not given an easy fight. Knockout artist Hisaki Kato will welcome Gracie back to active competition. All of Kato’s seven victories have come by way of knockout.
Featherweight action will also be featured on the main card. Emmanuel Sanchez will take on 33-fight veteran Georgi Karakhanyan. Sanchez will look to rebound from a split decision loss to Daniel Weichel back in July 2016. “Insane” is going for his third straight win.
A lightweight bout between Derek Anderson and Derek Campos is expected to open the main card. Anderson is coming off decision wins over Patricky Freire and Saad Awad. Campos is riding a wave of momentum with his knockout victory over Melvin Guillard and his decision win over Djamil Chan.
