Vitaly Minakov returns to action on Fight Pass when he takes on Josh “Cuddly Bear” Copeland in the main event of Fight Nights event on December 11. Rasul Mirzaev gets co-main event billing.
MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz first reported the match-up.
This will be Minakov’s third fight in 2015 where he’s gone 2-0 under the EFN banner.
Minakov (16-0) has 14 finishes and 2 decision wins to his name. He is 5-0 inside the Bellator cage, including TKO wins over former champ Alexander Volkov and Ryan Martinez. As well as a decision win over UFC Vet Cheick Kongo. He is 4-0 under the Fight Nights banner, including wins over Geronimo dos Santos, Adam Maciejewski, Fabiano Scherner and UFC vet Eddie Sanchez.
Copeland (11-2) is the current Prize FC heavyweight champion, beating Jason Ackerman for the title in August and defending it against DJ Linderman just a week ago. Copeland had a two-fight stint in the UFC where he went 0-2, losing to Ruslan Magomedov and Jared Rosholt. He is a former RFA and SCL heavyweight champion.
As well as the heavyweight main event, 29-year-old featherweight stand out Rasul “Black Tiger” Mirzaev (13-0) will reportedly look to maintain his undefeated record when he takes on Ilya Kurzanov (8-4) in the co-main event.
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