Bellator is looking to Alessio Sakara to headline another show in Italy.
The 37-year-old Rome native will once again be front and center when the promotion visits RDS Stadium in the city of Genoa for the first time on Dec. 1. “Legionarius” takes on England’s Kent Kauppinen in the light heavyweight main event.
Officials announced details for the event on Tuesday.
This will be Sakara’s fifth straight show competing in his home country of Italy, with all of those appearances taking place in the main or co-main event. Sakara (20-12, 2 NC) has won four of his last five bouts, with the lone loss during that stretch coming in a middleweight championship bout against Rafael Carvalho. The 16-year veteran’s last four wins have all come by knockout, including a 79-second finish of Jamie Sloane in the Bellator 203 co-headliner this past July.
Kauppinen, 26, hasn’t had much luck with Bellator so far, losing both of his fights for the promotion by submission. He lost via first-round armbar to Fabian Edwards in March, then tapped to a second-round rear-naked choke from Walter Gahadza at Bellator 200. Kauppinen (10-4) will be returning to light heavyweight after competing at 170 pounds in his last bout.
Also scheduled for the card is a Bellator Kickboxing championship bout between titleholder Gabriel Varga and Shan Cangelosi.
