Bellator Fighting Championships announced today the promotion will return to Dayton, Ohio for Bellator 78 LIVE on MTV2 and in commercial free HD on EPIX from Wright State’s Nutter Center on Friday, October 26. The night will feature the Bellator Season 7 Welterweight Semifinals, as well as the long awaited return of Bellator Women’s Champion Zoila Gurgel.

Bellator officials announced the news today via press release.

Gurgel (11-1) has been on the sidelines for well over a year as she has rehabilitated a torn ACL, and looks to reintroduce herself into the women’s MMA hype that’s been created during her absence.She last competed at Bellator 35, defeating Karina Hallinan via unanimous decision. She holds notable victories over the likes of Rosi Sexton, Jessica Aguilar, and Megumi Fujii.

The night will also feature the semifinals of the $100,000 Bellator Season 7 Welterweight Tournament, which begins September 28 from Caesars Atlantic City. Headlined by Lyman Good, Jim Wallhead, Marius Zaromskis and Russian phenom Andrey Koreshkov, the tournament is loaded with welterweights eager to earn their guaranteed title shot against reigning Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren.

Ohio native and Bellator middleweight Brian Rogers will return to action at Bellator 78 against an opponent that will be named at a later date. Rogers (9-4) was knocked out in front of his home state crowd in his last outing against Andreas Spang, and he’ll be looking to redeem himself with this opportunity.

“Last time I was in Ohio it was the biggest fight of my career and I embarrassed myself and let tons of buckeye friends and family down that spent their time and money to see me fight,” said Rogers. “It’s rare that a fighter at my level gets to fight near home often. Fortunately I get that opportunity again in Dayton. I owe the state of Ohio a better performance and on October 26 when bright lights come on I’m going to show up and put on a great show.”

Tickets for the event will be available this Wednesday, August 29 and are available at the WSU Nutter Center box office, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (800) 745-3000.

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