IRVINE, Calif. – Bellator MMA kicked off its run on Spike TV with a highly technical and entertaining title fight, but given the depth of the featherweight division, Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney ruled out the possibility of an immediate rematch.
In Thursday's Season 8 opener, Bellator 85, Pat Curran (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BFC) successfully defended his featherweight title with a narrow split-decision victory over Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. The bout, which took place at Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif., came down to the final round, where Curran finished strong to win the striking-heavy bout via 48-47, 47-48 and 48-47 scores.
This past year, Bellator announced a new championship-rematch clause that went into affect with the organization's move from MTV2 to Spike TV. When "called for," Rebney has the option to book immediate rematched rather than waiting for a defeated fighter to win another tournament to get a second title shot.
However, Freire won't get to benefit from the clause. Rebney told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he simply doesn't want to hold up the division.
After all, Season 6 tournament winner Daniel Straus (21-4 MMA, 7-1 BFC) is already queued up for the next shot at Curran. Additionally, after a delay, finalists Rad Martinez (14-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC) and Shahbulat Shamhalaev (11-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) are set to conclude their Season 7 tournament on Feb. 21 at Bellator 90, and the winner also will be in line for a title shot.
"At the end of the day, I think Daniel deserves his shot now without any type of delay," Rebney said. "Straus is that unknown commodity. Not that many people talk about Straus, but I literally think belongs in most people's Top 7 or 8 in the world. He's a really talented fighter and one of the biggest featherweights I've ever seen."
Awesome, love watching Straus fight.
Strauss is tough as fuck, super unpredictable, physically deceiving, and fully capable of pulling a massive upset within Bellator's featherweight division. Glad to see Bjorn keep his word and ensure the man gets his much deserved shot for the 145lb title.
Here is Daniel's last fight against BJJ blackbelt Alvin Robinson. Daniel is a white belt, keep that in mind. :)
Oh and the video is in Russian...but its all I could find.
TTT
TTT
Ttt mwahaha 
Love Straus and wish him well! Hes a great person and deserves the opportunity to fight on such a big stage. I wouldn't count him out either. He is sneaky strong and as well rounded as they come. Curran is a great champion but I have a feeling Daniel is gonna find a way to shock the world. 
This should be a great fight. Good style matchup
NAAFS -Love Straus and wish him well! Hes a great person and deserves the opportunity to fight on such a big stage. I wouldn't count him out either. He is sneaky strong and as well rounded as they come. Curran is a great champion but I have a feeling Daniel is gonna find a way to shock the world.
Daniel is still technically a NAAFS champ, right? :)
Matt Phillips -NAAFS - Love Straus and wish him well! Hes a great person and deserves the opportunity to fight on such a big stage. I wouldn't count him out either. He is sneaky strong and as well rounded as they come. Curran is a great champion but I have a feeling Daniel is gonna find a way to shock the world.Daniel is still technically a NAAFS champ, right? :)
Correct