Bellator Champions Series San Diego features lightweight title bout

Undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov takes on Alexander Shabliy in the main event Sept. 7 at Pechanga Arena

Bellator and its lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov are returning to San Diego.

Eleven months to the day after a stacked Bellator 300 card, Bellator Champions Series San Diego is coming back to Pechanga Arena and will feature the undefeated Nurmagomedov taking on Alexander Shabliy on Sept. 7.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Thursday on AXS.com.

Nurmagomedov, the 26-year-old cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, hasn’t fought since his one-sided unanimous decision over former champion Brent Primus at Bellator 300 was ruled no contest due to a positive drug test. Because the banned substance came in a prescription drug and its ingestion was deemed accidental,  Nurmagomedov (17-0, 1 NC) wasn’t stripped of his title but was suspended for six months.

He and Shabliy (24-3) were slated to square off for the championship in May in Paris before Nurmagomedov withdrew nearly a month prior due to injury.

Shabliy, 31, has won nine consecutive fights, including his last five in Bellator. He holds a second-round TKO victory over Primus in June 2022 and is coming off a viciously dominant unanimous decision over former lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull at Bellator 301 in November.

No other fights have been finalized for Bellator Champions Series San Diego, but there are two to watch.

In what would have been her first fight since Professional Fighters League acquired Bellator in December, Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg said she had signed to take on 2023 PFL season winner Larissa Pacheco, but recently told MMA Junkie Radio that PFL had a change of plans.

Cyborg, who defeated Cat Zingano via first-round TKO at Bellator 300, could alternatively see top Bellator contender Leah McCourt as her next opponent.

Another possible title fight Sept. 7 in San Diego is featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull defending his belt against Aaron Pico. Pitbull, upon successfully defending his title against Jeremy Kennedy in March, called out Pico, winner of nine of his last 10, after the fight.

In an interview with the Southern California News Group in May, PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis teased a potential Pitbull-Pico clash by saying: “We’re not ready to announce it yet. But a clue might be that you’ll cover it and it’s in your area of the woods.”