Ben Askren vs. Andrey Koreshkov title bout headlines Bellator's second summer series event on Spike TV on July 31

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The second event of Bellator's summer series on Spike TV comes to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday, July 31, headlined by a Welterweight Title bout between Ben Askren and Andrey Koreshkov.

The organization announced the fight and the event on Tuesday, which will take place from the Santa Ana Star Center.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back into that cage and putting on a show," Askren said. "I feel like I've continued to mature and get better in every one of my fights, and July 31 should be no different. I don't think Andrey has any ability to stop my wrestling and ground attack, so this will be another successful title defense."

Koreshkov enters the fight off a 5-0 run in 2012 that saw him capture a tournament winning victory over former Champion Lyman Good in November. The 22-year-old brings a perfect 13-0 record in against the 11-0 Champion.

"I'll be 110% ready for this fight,” Koreshkov said. “I'll make sure that Askren's tactics to put everybody in the audience to sleep won't work this time. Instead, I'll keep everybody entertained by putting him to sleep."

In addition to that fight, the season eight welterweight final between the Douglas Lima and Ben Saunders, delayed this spring due to injury, will also take place on this card.

"It’s an honor to fight a fighter like Ben again,” Lima said. “With the time off I've been able to fully heal to 100% and like always, will be looking to finish the fight early.”

"Quite simply, it's about damn time Douglas and I get back into the cage,” Saunders said. “July 31 can't get here soon enough. Can't wait."

Also announced for the event is former Featherweight Title challenger Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, who will take on Rob Emerson. The three-hour main card will air live on Spike TV.

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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_16968.shtml

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