The two cards on Bellator’s return to Hawaii next month continue to build with additions from the promotion’s recent open tryouts in Honolulu.
The organization picked 10 total fighters from those open tryouts, and they’ll be part of the “Bellator: Salute the Troops” and Bellator 236 cards in December, the promotion today announced.
The fighters who earned shots with Bellator are featherweight Braydon Akeo, bantamweight Pierre Daguzan (5-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), lightweight Keoni Diggs (7-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), welterweight Hunter Ewald (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), bantamweight Kaylan Gorospe (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), lightweight Scotty Hao (4-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), bantamweight Cheyden Leialoha (7-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), bantamweight Swayne Lunasco (7-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), flyweight Jamie Thorton (6-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and welterweight Ben Wilhelm (3-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).
Akeo (3-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) gets a tough assignment right out of the gate against Tywan Claxton (5-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA). Claxton will be looking to rebound from the first loss of his career, a submission setback against Emmanuel Sanchez in the opening round of Bellator’s featherweight tournament in September. Akeo turned pro a year ago and is 3-0 out of the gate.
The latest “Bellator: Salute the Troops” lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Paramount, DAZN 10 p.m. ET)
- Josh Barnett vs. Ronny Markes
- Toby Misech vs. Erik Perez
- Veta Arteaga vs. Alejandra Lara
- Braydon Akeo vs. Tywan Claxton
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 8:45 p.m. ET)
- Cass Bell vs. Pierre Daguzan
- Hunter Ewald vs. Jonathan Pico
- Jamie Thorton vs. Tiani Valle
And the latest Bellator 236 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (DAZN, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Kate Jackson – for women’s flyweight title
- Derek Campos vs. A.J. McKee – featherweight tournament quarterfinal
- Neiman Gracie vs. Kiichi Kunimoto
- Bruna Ellen vs. Juliana Velasquez
- Cheyden Leialoha vs. Raufeon Stots
Preliminary MMA Junkie, 8:30 p.m. ET Edit Delete
- Kaylan Gorospe vs. Swayne Lunasco
- Keoni Diggs vs. Scotty Hao
- Chas Dunhour vs. Nate Yoshimura
- Spencer Higa vs. Kai Kamaka III
- Kona Oliveira vs. Ben Wilhelm
- Dustin Barca vs. Brandon Pieper
- Nainoa Dung vs. Zach Zane
