CES MMA’s welterweight title will be on the line later this month when the promotion makes a little history in Connecticut.
CES MMA 55 takes place March 29 at Connecticut Convention Center in the state capital of Hartford. The card streams on UFC Fight Pass. It will be the first sanctioned MMA event in Connecticut history, according to CES MMA. Prior events in the state either have been unsanctioned or have taken place on tribal grounds. (Bellator, for example, frequently has events at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., but those events aren’t overseen by the state.)
In the CES MMA 55 main event, welterweight champion Jeremiah Wells (6-1-1) will put his title on the line for the first time when he takes on challenger Vinicius De Jesus (7-2), a Bellator veteran.
In addition, after a stint in the UFC, former CES champion Matt Bessette (22-9) returns to the promotion for a fight in his home state against Tim Dooling (7-4). Plus, Eric Spicely (11-4) takes on fellow UFC vet Caio Magalhaes (10-6).
Wells won the vacant 170-pound title this past August with a unanimous decision over Jason Norwood in the CES MMA 52 main event. Prior to that, he had wins in his first two bouts in the promotion, including a 57-second k nockout of Gary Balletto Jr in April 2018.
De Jesus returns to action not long after he took out Rodolfo Barcellos with a first-round TKO at Bellator 216 in February in Connecticut. That gave him back-to-back wins for the promotion and put him at 3-1 under the Bellator banner. Now he’ll take a shot at winning a title on the regional scene.
The CES MMA 55 card includes:
- Champ Jeremiah Wells vs. Vinicius de Jesus – for welterweight title
- Matt Bessette vs. Tim Dooling
- Caio Magalhaes vs. Eric Spicely
- Rakim Cleveland vs. Parker Porter
- William Knight vs. Carlton Little
- Antonio Castillo Jr. vs. Dan Dubuque
For more on CES MMA 55, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
