Champ Cole Konrad vs. Eric Prindle added to Bellator 65
Bellator officials wasted little time in booking a title fight between heavyweight champion Cole Konrad (8-0 MMA, 6-0 BFC) and de facto tournament winner Eric Prindle (7-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC).
That bout will take place place April 13 at Bellator 65 in New Jersey, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced Thursday on "MMA Uncensored Live" on Spike TV.
The booking comes after two scheduled rematches between season-five tournament finalists Prindle and Thiago Santos were scrapped in recent weeks.
Bellator 65 takes place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The main card airs on MTV2, and the prelims stream on Spike.com. Konrad vs. Prindle will be part of the televised lineup.
Prindle and Santos first fought at Bellator 59, where the tourney championship went unresolved after Santos accidentally kicked his opponent in the groin. With Prindle unable to continue, the fight was rebooked for Bellator 61 earlier this month. However, Prindle suffered from flu-like symptoms, and the fight was postponed a week. Then at Bellator 62 weigh-ins, Santos failed to make weight, and Prindle was declared the tournament champion.
Konrad hasn't fought since August, when he earned a unanimous-decision victory over Paul Buentello in a non-title fight. Prior to that, the two-time NCAA Division I national champion and current Team DeathClutch fighter won Bellator's season-three tournament with victories over Rogent Lloret, Damian Grabowski and Neil Grove. That earned him Bellator's inaugural heavyweight title.
Before the Santos fiasco, Prindle advanced to the season-five tourney finale with victories over Abe Wagner and Ron Sparks. It was part of a seven-fight win streak that followed his pro-debut loss to Jimmy Ambriz in 2008.
The latest Bellator 65 card now includes:
Champ Zach Makovsky vs. Eduardo Dantas (for bantamweight title)
Champ Cole Konrad vs. Eric Prindle (for heavyweight title)
Lyman Good vs. LeVon Maynard (welterweight tourney qualifier)
Duane Bastress vs. Pino Cruz
Tim Carpenter vs. Ricardo Romero
