Bellator 111 Hosts Dantas-Silva Bantamweight Title Tilt, Heavyweight Tourney Quarterfinals

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Bellator MMAwill headline its second Season 10 event with a bantamweight title showdown between Eduardo Dantas and Rafael Silva.

Promotion officials announced the Bellator 111 booking on Thursday, additionally revealing that the Season 10 heavyweight tournament quarterfinals will take place at the March 7 event. The show takes place at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and the evening’s main draw airs live on Spike TV.

The heavyweight tournament’s opening round will see eight men vie for a shot at champion Vitaly Minakov, as former divisional ruler Alexander Volkov faces Mark Holata and ex-UFC talent Lavar Johnson meets Ryan Martinez. Meanwhile, kickboxing standouts Peter Graham and Siala-Mou Siliga will square off, while onetime combat sambo world champion Blagoi Ivanov battles three-time tournament veteran Rich Hale.

Dantas, 24, joined Bellator in 2011, winning the organization’s Season 5 tournament before choking out then-champion Zach Makovsky to win the bantamweight belt. “Dudu” then suffered an upset defeat to Tyson Nam in the Shooto Brazil ring but rebounded with a knockout of fellow Nova Uniao product Marcos Galvao, finishing “Loro” with punches nearly one year ago at Bellator 89.

In Silva, Dantas faces a man who has not lost in nearly three years. “Morcego” signed with Bellator in 2013, submitting Rodrigo Lima and outpointing Anthony Leone to win the four-man Summer Series tournament and earn his shot at the champion. The 28-year-old owns 17 of his 21 wins by either knockout or submission and has gone the distance just five times in 24 pro outings.