Bellator kicks off a 2015 of monthly shows on January 16 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
Former champion Daniel Straus will try to reclaim the featherweight title going up against Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. The champ already holds a win over Straus from Bellator 45 in 2011 in a tournament final, although Straus did win and lose the title in the intervening years, leading to Freire taking the title from Pat Curran last November.
The co-main event pits former WSOF featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan against Bubba Jenkins. Karakhanyan left WSOF after he lost the title to Rick Glenn, returning to Bellator and looking for his own rematch with Pitbull. Jenkins has won four straight and five out of six overall in Bellator, so the winner is undoubtedly in line for a future title shot.
Check out our full preview for the Bellator 132 main card below:
145 lbs.: Patricio Freire (22-2) vs. Daniel Straus (23-5)
This is a quest for redemption for Straus, who following his last loss to Freire went on a six fight win streak, culminating in Straus taking the featherweight title from Pat Curran. Curran took the title back in a rematch, forcing Straus to start over again from the ground up, although a first-round knockout of Justin Wilcox quickly put Straus back in the driver's seat. Now all that's left for Straus to regain the title is to do one thing.
Avenge his loss to Freire.
That's a tall order given that Freire doesn't lose very often. In a pro career dating back to 2004, Freire has only been knocked off twice -- by Joe Warren and Pat Curran -- and both of those defeats were split decisions. He's also diverse in his method of victory, with stopping power in his hands (nine finishes), black belt level jiu-jitsu (seven finishes) and the ability to outlast even the toughest of foes (six decisions). Freire is the kind of puzzle that not many fighters can solve.
Straus may be best known as a grinder, taking 14 of his 23 wins by decision, but he'll need the kind of power he showed against Justin Wilcox and the kind of submissions he showed against Pat Curran if he hopes to beat the champion. Freire was openly mocking Straus at the end of their last fight, seemingly assured that he had the victory in hand, and that may be his best chance to regain the title -- an overconfident Freire making a huge mental mistake late in the fourth or fifth round and letting Straus take him down.
That doesn't seem likely.
Final prediction: Freire retains the title against Straus in a five round decision.
145 lbs.: Georgi Karakhanyan (23-4-1) vs. Bubba Jenkins (8-1)
Jenkins has been a rising star for the promotion ever since his TKO debut win at Bellator 97, starting off at lightweight but eventually finding his dominance at featherweight, where he's unbeaten in four straight. A fifth win could make him the next contender to the throne, but to become a champion he'll have to beat a former champion.
Karakhanyan left Bellator and went on a nine-fight win streak of his own, but a doctor's stoppage prevented him from successfully defending his WSOF title.
Karakhanyan has won 13 out of 23 via submission, but Jenkins has never been tapped -- and that owes in large part to Jenkins being a division one All-American wrestler twice in college (at two different universities). You're going to have a tough time taking Jenkins down, and when you fail he's right there to either nail you with a shot or hit a takedown of his own.
Jenkins is likely to keep it standing though just to avoid letting Karakhanyan work for anything off his back.
Final prediction: Jenkins beats Karakhanyan in a three round decision.
205 lbs.: Houston Alexander (16-10-1, 2 NC) vs. Virgil Zwicker (12-4-1)
Houston Alexander and Virgil Zwicker tried their best to find a winner at Bellator 129, but Alexander proved to be his own worst enemy as he was docked a point for throwing a headbutt on the ground, causing the judges to score the bout a majority draw.
After the fight was over both men were all smiles and compliments backstage, but the result wasn't satisfying for the live viewers or for the Bellator promotion, so now we're going to do it all over again. The key to the last fight was Alexander's improved wrestling and takedowns, and if he can stay disciplined and not commit any fouls, Nebraska will be in the building in Temecula.
Final prediction: Alexander gets a unanimous decision over Zwicker.
170 lbs.: Fernando Gonzalez (22-13) vs. Marius Zaromskis (20-8, 1 NC)
Former DREAM welterweight champion Zaromskis has a Jekyll & Hyde fighting style. At his best he can beat fighters like Kazushi Sakuraba and Nordine Taleb, and at his worst he gets blown out by Andrey Koreshkov in the first round.
Will the real Marius Zaromskis please stand up?
Gonzalez, meanwhile, was one of the most surprising fighters of 2014, scoring consecutive upset wins over "Psycho" Karl Amoussou and Karo "The Heat" Parisyan, although the latter victory was somewhat tarnished by a THC drug test failure. Having lost two of his last three, Zaromskis seems ripe for the picking as Gonzalez seeks to prove his two Bellator wins in 2014 weren't a fluke.
Final prediction: Gonzalez defeats Zaromskis via knockout.
That's a wrap!
MMAmania.com will deliver live coverage of Bellator 132: "Pitbull vs. Straus" on Friday night (Jan. 16), with the first fight streaming live online at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the televised portion of Bellator 132 which airs live on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET.
See you then!