Check out these photos from Usman Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title defense against Alexander Shabliy at Bellator Champions Series: San Diego, which took place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. (Photos by Cooper Neill, Bellator MMA).

The Bellator Championship Series returns TONIGHT (Sat., Sept. 7, 2024) after a lengthy layoff as Bellator San Diego goes down inside Pechanga Arena in San Diego, Calif., featuring a Lightweight title fight between division champion, Usman Nurmagomedov, taking on Alexandr Shabliy. In the co-main event, Lorenz Larkin will face off against Levan Chokheli. The original co-headlining act was supposed to feature Raufeon Stots facing off against Marcos Breno, but the fight was postponed for unknown reasons.

Many readers check in before, during and after the fights to share their thoughts on all of the action, which will begin at 8 p.m. ET. Feel free to leave a comment (or several) about the bouts and chat with all the other Maniacs during the show — it’s always a lot of fun!