Lightweight, Bantamweight Title Fights Top Bellator Champions Series Paris on May 17

Two championship fights will top the card for a Bellator MMA event in Paris on May 17.

Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight crown against Alexandr Shabily in the evening’s main event, while Patrick Mix will face Magomed Magomedov in a bantamweight championship clash in the co-headliner. The promotion on Wednesday announced the featured bouts for the event, which will be entitled Bellator Champions Series Paris.

Bellator Champions Series Paris takes place at Accor Arena in Paris and also includes two other main card matchups: a middleweight No. 1 contender’s bout between Gregory Babene and Costello van Steenis and a heavyweight showdown pitting Slim Trabelsi against Louie Sutherland. Additionally, Mansour Barnaoui will lock horns with Yusuke Yachi in a preliminary lightweight contest.

Nurmagomedov is undefeated in 18 professional outings. His last bout, which was initially a unanimous decision win against Brent Primus at Bellator 300, was overturned to a no contest after the Dagestani tested positive for an undisclosed banned substance. Nurmagomedov was not stripped of his belt, however.

Shabliy, meanwhile, is in the midst of an undefeated run that dates back to 2017. Most recently, the undefeated Russian took a five-round verdict over Patricky Freire at Bellator 301 this past November.

Mix will carry a 19-1 mark into his rematch with Magomedov. In their first meeting, “Patchy” submitted Magomedov with a guillotine choke in the second round of their bout at Bellator 289 in December 2022. More recently, Mix unified the bantamweight title with a submission of Sergio Pettis at Bellator 301.

Magomedov has competed once since the aforementioned loss to Mix, as he rebounded to submit Danny Sabatello at Bellator vs. Rizin 2 to run his career mark to 20-3.

Dates and locations for the entire Bellator Champions Series schedule were also revealed on Wednesday. They are as follows:

Saturday, June 22 - Bellator Champions Series Dublin - 3Arena
Saturday, September 7 - Bellator Champions Series San Diego - Pechanga Arena
Saturday, September 14 - Bellator Champions Series London - OVO Wembley
Saturday, October 12 - Bellator Champions Series Chicago - Wintrust Arena
Saturday, November 16 - Bellator Champions Series Paris - ADIDAS Arena
Tuesday, December 31 - Bellator Champions Series - TBD