Ex-Champ Makovsky vs. Leone Completes Bellator 83's Main Card

Ex-champ Makovsky vs. Leone completes Bellator 83's main card
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Nov 21, 2012 at 7:30 am ET

A fight between former Bellator bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky (14-3 MMA, 6-1 BFC) and big-show vet Anthony Leone (11-5 MMA, 1-2 BFC) has taken the third and final main-card slot on next month's Bellator 83 card.

As previously announced, Season 7 featherweight-tournament finalists Rad Martinez (14-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC) and Shahbulat Shamhalaev (11-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) meet in the headliner.

Additionally, 115-pound champion Zoila Frausto Gurgel (12-1 MMA, 6-0 BFC) meets fellow 125-pound standout Jessica Eye (8-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) in a non-title co-headliner.

Bellator 83 takes place Dec. 7 at New Jersey's Caesars Atlantic City. The main card airs on MTV2 following prelims on Spike.com.

Bellator officials told MMAjunkie.com a fourth fight could be moved to the main card, time-permitting.

Makovsky, who won the Bellator title with a Season 3 tournament championship, subsequently won two non-title fights (over Chad Robichaux and Ryan Roberts), which pushed his win streak to eight fights. However, Eduardo Dantas then stopped him with a second-round submission back at Bellator 65 to take the belt.

The Philadelphia-based submission specialist now fights for the first time since that April defeat when he meets Leone, who recently earned a split-decision victory over Claudio Ledesma at Bellator 68. It was the former WEC and Strikeforce fighter's third win in his past four fights.

A number of fights also are set for the prelims: Najim Wali (3-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) vs. Kelvin Tiller (5-0 MMA, 3-0 BFC) at a catchweight TBA, lightweights Darrell Horcher (6-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) vs. Chris Liguori (15-9 MMA, 0-0 BFC), featherweights Brylan Van Artsdalen (7-4 MMA, 1-4 BFC) vs. Terrell Hobbs (4-6 MMA, 0-1 BFC), flyweights Tuan Pham (4-5 MMA, 0-1 BFC) vs. Matthew Lozano (3-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC), and bantamweight Nick Kirk (9-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) vs. Claudio Ledesma (7-3 MMA, 2-1 BFC).

Additionally, heavyweight Alexei Kudin (14-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC) and bantamweight Jimmie Rivera (10-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) will compete at the event, though opponents haven't been finalized.

The latest Bellator 83 card now includes: MAIN CARD (MTV2)

Rad Martinez vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev - featherweight-tournament final
Jessica Eye vs. Zoila Gurgel
Anthony Leone vs. Zach Makovsky

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com)

Alexei Kudin vs. TBA
Najim Wali vs. Kelvin Tiller
Jimmie Rivera vs. TBA
Darrell Horcher vs. Chris Liguori
Terrell Hobbs vs. Brylan Van Artsdalen
Matthew Lozano vs. Tuan Pham
Nick Kirk vs. Claudio Ledesma