A flyweight feature fight pitting renowned boxing champions Heather Hardy (1-1) against Ana Julaton (2-3) has been added to the main card of Bellator 194: Nelson vs. Mitrione on Friday, February 16 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The event will air live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET.
The bout will be the first part of a dual event scenario in which the fighters are also expected to compete in a boxing match at a later date. While the MMA bout will be held under the Bellator banner, DiBella Entertainment and Orion Sports Management will handle promotional duties for the boxing event.
Tickets for Bellator 194: Nelson vs. Mitrione are available now and can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office, as well as Ticketmaster and Bellator.com. The event will be broadcast live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and globally on the Bellator Mobile App. Additional contests will be announced in coming weeks.
Making her third appearance inside the Bellator MMA cage, Hardy hopes to duplicate the game plan that earned her an impressive knockout win over Alice Yauger in her professional debut at Madison Square Garden. Hailing from Brooklyn, N.Y., Hardy built an imposing boxing resume prior to joining forces with Bellator, where she collected a pair of titles in multiple weight classes, including the WBC International Female Super Bantamweight belt and WBC International Female Featherweight belt. “The Heat” protected an unblemished mark of 20-0 through a five-year stint inside the boxing ring.
An accomplished professional boxer herself, Julaton also brings a unique style to the Bellator cage as she prepares for just her sixth career MMA bout. The former WBO and IBA super bantamweight world champion made the transition to mixed martial arts in May of 2014, collecting a convincing knockout over Aya-Saeid Saber. Since making her professional MMA debut, “The Hurricane” has competed for multiple world-renown promotions and trains alongside Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix competitor Frank Mir in Las Vegas.
Updated Bellator 194: Nelson vs. Mitrione Fight Card:
Heavyweight World Grand Prix First Round Bout: Roy Nelson (23-14) vs. Matt Mitrione (12-5)
Lightweight Co-Main Event: Patricky “Pitbull” (18-8) vs. Derek Campos (19-6)
Women’s Flyweight Feature Bout: Heather Hardy (1-1) vs. Ana Julaton (2-3)
Bellator.com and Bellator Mobile App Preliminary Card:
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Marcus Surin (4-1) vs. Dean Hancock (3-1)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Ross Richardson (Pro Debut) vs. Nick Giulietti (Pro Debut)
165-lb. Catchweight Preliminary Bout: Peter Nascimento (Pro Debut) vs. Kastriot Xhema (1-1)
Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Regivaldo Carvalho (4-2) vs. Tom English (6-8)