A women’s flyweight match-up featuring the #10-ranked fighter in the weight class facing a rising 125lb hopeful has been booked for Bellator 290.
Alejandra Lara (9-6) will fight Diana Avsaragova (5-0) at the promotion’s 2023 debut on February 4, 2023. Cageside Press confirmed the booking with a source familiar with the situation on Tuesday, following an initial report by MMA Junkie.
Lara, a former title challenger in the organization, will be looking to pull out of a tail spin in the fight, after dropping her last three bouts. In that stretch, she’s suffered defeat at the hands of Kana Watanabe, DeAnna Bennett, and most recently, Ilara Joanne. Still, she’s managed to hang on to her #10 ranking at 125lbs — though that is likely to change with another setback.
Avsaragova has been perfect in her professional career thus far, besting Kyra Batara in her last outing. The 24-year old is 3-0 under the Bellator banner, and competed in wrestling in her native Russia earlier in her athletic career.
Bellator 290 takes place on February 4, 2023 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA. A heavyweight title fight between champ Ryan Bader and the retiring legend Fedor Emelianenko headlines the event; the light heavyweight title is on the line in the co-feature. That fight sees Vadim Nemkov defend against Yoel Romero.
The following match-ups have been reported for Bellator 290 to date:
- Ryan Bader (c) vs. Fedor Emelianenko – for the Bellator MMA heavyweight championship
- Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Yoel Romero – for the Bellator MMA light heavyweight championship
- Sabah Homasi vs. Brennan Ward
- Karl Albrektsson vs. Grant Neal
- Ethan Hughes vs. Yusuf Karakaya
- Chris Gonzalez vs. Max Rohskopf
- Jornel Lugo vs. Jaylon Bates
- Max Rohskopf vs. Chris Gonzalez
- Alejandra Lara vs. Diana Avsaragova
