Cincinnati native Daniel Straus (23-6, 10-3 Bellator) will get another title shot, and with it will be a chance to take out one of the biggest foes of his career.
Straus is set to headline Bellator 145: Vengeance against featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (24-2, 12-2 Bellator) on Nov. 6 in St. Louis, Missouri. The event will act as Bellator’s fourth “tent pole” event of the year.
This will be Straus’ third crack at Freire, who has bested him twice before. Freire took a unanimous decision over Straus at Bellator 45 in 2011 in the Season 4 Featherweight Final, and then Freire submitted Straus in the fourth round of a championship fight in January at Bellator 132.
Straus is 21-0 against fighters not named Patricio Pitbull or Pat Curran since 2009, but against those two fighters he’s just 1-4 with the lone win coming over Curran to earn the Bellator Featherweight title in 2014.
After the loss to Pitbull in January, Straus rebounded with a second round submission in a dominant performance against Henry Corrales at Bellator 138, which was also in St. Louis.
Straus now trains with American Top Team in Florida and is ranked as the No. 11 featherweight in the world by MMAjunkie.com. Freire is ranked No. 3.
Freire is riding a seven-fight winning streak and has successfully defended the Bellator title twice with wins over Straus and Daniel Weichel since winning it in a rematch against Curran last year.
Bellator 145 will actually feature two title fights, as lightweight champ Will Brooks (16-1, 8-1 Bellator) will defend his title against Season 10 Tournament winner Marcin Held (21-3, 10-2 Bellator).
The event airs on Spike TV and ticket information will be available soon.