Bellator continues to expand its roster by signing more and more fighters every day. According to Ariel Helwani, Tofiq Musayev is promotion’s newest acquisition.
The Azerbaijan-born fighter has an 18 – 4 professional record and is best known for his stint in RIZIN, where he was unbeaten till last June when he fought Roberto de Souza for the then-vacant lightweight championship belt. Satoshi, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt submitted Musayev by a triangle choke in the very first round.
The aforementioned title fight loss put an end to Musayev’s 14 fight winning streak, including six bouts in Rizin. During this winning streak, he got victories over UFC veterans such as Daron Cruickshank, Damien Brown, and Johnny Case, however his most notable win came against current Bellator lightweight champion, Paticky ‘Pitbull’ Freire in the finals of the Rizin World Lightweight Grand Prix.
Musayev’s signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator, however, no promotional debut date or opponent has been revealed. Azerbaijan native is next fighter, after Kyoji Horiguchi, who transferred from Rizin to Bellator probably due to Japan’s strict travel restrictions that forbid foreigners from entering the country. This put both promotion and fighters in a tough position, as it put their careers on hold and forces promoters to book events around the local talent. This may cause an exodus of fighters leaving Rizin in favour of other promotions.
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