What to Watch For: Bellator 166

The memories of Oct. 10, 2014 and a unanimous decision defeat to Joe Warren still sting for Eduardo Dantas. Dantas will defend the Bellator MMA bantamweight championship in a rematch against Warren in the Bellator 166 main event on Friday at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, undefeated prospect A.J. McKee will lock horns with Ray Wood in the featherweight co-headliner, as he looks to further his cause at 145 pounds.Anchored at the star-studded Nova Uniao camp, Dantas will enter the cage on a two-fight winning streak. The 27-year-old Brazilian last fought at Bellator 156 on June 17, when he captured promotional gold for a second time with a lopsided unanimous decision against former teammate Marcos Galvao at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Talent has never been in question for Dantas, and Andre Pederneiras protégé who owns victories over former Shooto champion Shinichi Kojima, onetime EliteXC titleholder Wilson Reis, 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Alexis Vila and ex-Bellator titlist Zach Makovsky. Warren has been a pillar of the Bellator organization since 2010. He last competed at Bellator 161 on Sept. 16, when he submitted American Top Team’s Sirwan Kakai with a third-round guillotine choke at the HEB Center in Cedar Park, Texas. The 40-year-old has alternated wins and losses in each of his past four appearances, with victories over Kakai and L.C. Davis offset by defeats to Galvao and Darrion Caldwell. Warren was an NCAA All-American wrestler at the …

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