by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Apr 22, 2011 at 4:05 pm ET
After a failed attempt at stripping Eddie Alvarez of the Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight title, Pat Curran (13-4 MMA, 3-1 BFC) now will try his luck at 145 pounds.
Bellator brass today announced the season-two lightweight tournament winner will drop to his more natural featherweight division for the promotion's upcoming "Summer Series" 145-pound tournament.
"I've fought at featherweight for most of my career, so I'm really excited to get back to a weight class where I can really do some damage," Curran stated in today's official release. "I had some great results as a lightweight, but I'm really going to make some noise in this summer featherweight tournament."
Curran returns to action at Bellator 46, which takes place June 25 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. As with all of Bellator's "Summer Series" events, the main card airs live on MTV2.
The eight-man tournament takes place during the course of the summer and awards the winner a title shot with champ Joe Warren. The semifinals take place at Bellator 47 and the final at Bellator 48.
Curran was the surprise winner of Bellator's season-two lightweight tourney with successive victories over Mike Ricci, Roger Huerta and Toby Imada. Injury delayed Curran's title shot with Alvarez until April's Bellator 39 event, where he came up short via unanimous decision but earned the respect of the champ by lasting 25 minutes.
"Eddie Alvarez was right on target when he talked about Pat's heart, but Pat also has spectacular knockout power and a great all-around mixed martial arts arsenal," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney stated. "Pat Curran will be a beast at 145 (pounds)."
Bellator's featherweight tournament is also expected to feature Ronnie Mann, who competes at Saturday's Bellator 42, as well as Marlon Sandro.
For more on
Bellator 46,
Bellator 47 and
Bellator 48, stay tuned to the
MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.