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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Georgi Karakhanyan lost the World Series of Fighting Featherweight Championship in his last outing, getting stopped by Rick Glenn after breaking his rib.
He won't be sticking around for a rematch, as he's heading back to Bellator MMA.
The organization announced his signing on Tuesday, with Karakhanyan commenting on coming back.
"Bellator has one of the most stacked 145-pound divisions," Karakhanyan said in a statement from Bellator (via MMAFighting.com). "I love to challenge myself, and they have plenty to offer in Pat [Curran], [Daniel] Strauss, Bubba [Jenkins]. Bubba and I are cool, but it's business. The up-and-comer [Goiti] Yamauchi ... but really what did it for me was 'Pitbull' becoming the champion. Don't get me wrong, he is a great fighter. I have a lot of respect for him as a competitor, but I also have a loss to him, one that I am not ready to put behind me.
"So it's the perfect story. Everyone wants a belt, everyone wants to get to the top, every fighter wants to avenge his loss. I get to do that all in one fight, when I become Bellator 145 champion and add yet another belt to my collection."
Karakhanyan, who won two of his three fights in the WSOF, went 2-2 in his first and only stint in Bellator, losing to Joe Warren and current Champ Pitbull Freire in 2010 and 2011.
Penick’s Analysis: This is quite a surprising move given the fact that he just lost that title in his last fight. There was already discussion on a potential rematch with Glenn, so it's not quite clear what led him to leave WSOF so abruptly. That said, a chance to climb back up and try to avenge another loss in a title fight with Pitbull is clearly intriguing to him.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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