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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator announced two new fights for their Feb. 13 event in Fresno, Calif., as former Bellator Featherweight Champ Pat Curran will take on Daniel Weichel, while Julia Budd will take on Talita Nogueira.
Curran fights for the first time since losing the title in his rematch with Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. That completed a whirlwind year of title fights, which began when he lost the belt to Daniel Straus, only to regain it in a rematch that was heavily criticized for being booked in the first place.
Now he'll fight in his first non-title bout since August of 2011, taking on the Bellator season ten featherweight tournament winner in Weichel.
The 30-year-old German fighter is a veteran of 44 fights, bringing a 34-8 overall record into this matchup. His season ten tourney run saw him defeat Scott Cleve and Matt Bessette before submitting Desmond Green in the finals.
The 31-year-old Budd, who got her MMA start under now-Bellator President Scott Coker in Strikeforce, comes to Bellator after a four-fight winning streak with Invicta FC. She takes on Nogueira, who enters her own Bellator debut with an undefeated 6-0 record, having stopped each of her opponents in the first or second round.
The Feb. 13 card is expected to be Bellator 133, and will be headlined by a middleweight matchup between Alexander Shlemenko and Melvin Manhoef.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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