Bellator has booked its first 2020 return to its regular Oklahoma stomping grounds with a welterweight headliner.
Ed Ruth (8-1 MMA, BMMA 8-1) is set to take on Yaroslav Amosov (22-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) in the Bellator 239 main event, the promotion announced Monday. In addition, Brandon Girtz (16-8 MMA, 8-6 BMMA) meets Myles Jury (17-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in the lightweight co-feature.
Bellator 239 takes place Feb. 21, a Friday, at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., about 75 miles north of Dallas. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Ruth has won back-to-back fights in 2019 to get back on track after the first setback of his pro career. The standout wrestler was submitted by Neiman Gracie at Bellator 213 nearly a year ago in the welterweight tournament. But in July, he stopped Kiichi Kunimoto with a second-round TKO at Bellator 224 to get back in the win column, and he took a split call from Jason Jackson at Bellator 231 in October in Connecticut.
Amosov signed with Bellator in 2013 and continued the perfect start to his career with a unanimous decision over Gerald Harris at Bellator 202 in Thackerville. He followed that up with a decision win over former UFC standout Erick Silva at Bellator 216 in February. In August, he got his first Bellator stoppage win with a second-round submission of David Rickels at Bellator 225.
Girtz got back on track in March with a unanimous decision win over Saad Awad at Bellator 219. Prior to that, he was mired in a 1-4 slump that included a submission loss to former lightweight champion Michael Chandler. He was set to return at Bellator 227, but an injury took him out of a fight against Jon Tuck, who was a replacement for the injured Paul Redmond. Now he’ll look to make it two straight and three of his past four.
Jury made his promotional debut in September at Bellator 227, but dropped a unanimous decision to former UFC and WEC lightweight champ Benson Henderson. The setback was Jury’s third straight. He closed out his lengthy run in the UFC with consecutive losses to Chad Mendes and Andre Fili before signing with Bellator. Once an unbeaten UFC lightweight title contender with six straight wins, including victories over Michael Johnson, Diego Sanchez and Takanori Gomi, Jury is just 2-5 over the past nearly five years.
