By FCF Staff

As expected would be the case, Bellator has announced that its featherweight champion, Pat Curran, will look to defend his title at the promotion’s upcoming November 2nd, pay-per-view event. Curran will take on Season Six tourney winner Daniel Strauss at the card, which will be hosted by the Long Beach Arena.

Curran (19-4) is coming off a first round, choke-out win over Shahbulat Shamhalaev in Apri, after working his way to a split decision win over Patricio Freire in January.

“I’ve been with Bellator since the beginning, and seen my career grow as Bellator has,” Curran said in the announcement. “It means the world to me to be able to defend my title on our first Pay-Per-View, especially with such a tough fight ahead of me. I’m not taking Straus lightly. He is an incredibly tough featherweight, and I’m not even thinking about our first fight in 2009, we are two totally different guys right now. This card is stacked, and I want to give Bellator and all our fans a great show.”

Strauss (21-4), meanwhile, hasn’t fought since October when he submitted Alvin Robinson in the second round at Bellator 78.

“It’s finally here. I’ve faced so many setbacks over the last year, and my title shot is finally here,” Straus said. “When Pat and I met in 2009, we were two completely different fighters. Both of us have developed so much in that time, but I still want that loss of my record. That fight taught me a lot about where I was as a fighter, especially considering I’ve gone 17-1 since we last met. I’m just excited to be able to get a chance to fight for a title on a huge stage like this. I really don’t know how this fight is going to end, but I envision it going quickly. This won’t be a long, drawn out process. I’m going in for the kill.”

The November 2nd card will be headlined by a light-heavyweight bout between former UFC champs Tito Ortiz and “Rampage” Jackson. Lightweight champion Michael Chandler and former champ Eddie Alvarez will also fight for a second time at the event.