Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran puts title on the line Against Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 73, August 24th

Pat Curran vs. Patricio Pitbull.jpg

(Pat Curran vs. Patricio Pitbull)

From Bellator Fighting Championships:

CHICAGO, Ill. (May 25, 2012) — Aftercapturing the Bellator Featherweight Championship with one of the mostdevastating knockouts in Bellator history (Watch Here: http://bit.ly/ztVmVh), PatCurran is set for his first title defense when he takes on Patricio Pitbull atBellator 73 on August 24th. The event will take place LIVE on MTV2 and incommercial-free HD on EPIX with the preliminary fights being streamed online atSpike.com.

"This will be an offensive clinic between two devastating finishers,"Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "Both Pat Curran andPatricio Pitbull can finish with relentless strikes or vicious submissions.This is a fight between two of the best Featherweights in MMA and will be atitle fight to remember."

Widely regarded as one of the top featherweights in the world, Curran’s road tothe title was an impressive one. After an incredible Peruvian necktiesubmission victory over Luis Palomino in the Bellator Season 5 quarterfinals,Curran collected a unanimous decision win over Ronnie Mann. With the victory,Curran secured a spot in the Featherweight Finals against Marlon Sandro. Curranpushed the pace early, and in the second round delivered a devastating,highlight-reel roundhouse kick to the head of Sandro that earned the CrystalLake, Ill. product his eventual title shot against Warren at Bellator 60. Aftertwo back and fourth rounds, Curran delivered a barrage of strikes that endedthe fight in the third round and earned Curran the Bellator FeatherweightTitle.

"This fight with Patricio is one I’ve been looking forward to for awhile," Curran said. "This will be my first title defense, and I justwant to get back in the cage and keep developing as a fighter. Pitbull is anoutstanding fighter, so this should be a great fight."

For Pitbull, the explosive Brazilian has been away from the cage for over ayear after suffering a broken hand that kept the 17-1 striker out of action.After collecting his title shot with a dominating run through the BellatorSeason 4 Featherweight Tournament, to say Pitbull is eager to get back in thecage would be an understatement.

"I’m very happy and relieved this fight is finally happening," saidPitbull. "I've been through a lot with my hand injury and can't wait toget back in the cage. I’m 100 percent now and all I want is to fulfill my dreamof getting the belt and pay tribute to my late teacher Bruno Gouvea. He’s thereason I’m here today and he’ll be with me in spirit cageside watching his workpay off. All is can say is Pat better be ready. I’ve never been so motivatedfor a fight, and I’ve never wanted the belt so much."

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter@BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney andcheck out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator