Jessica Pene To Face Zoila Frausto At Bellator 25The two remaining opening-round bouts for Bellator’s 115-pound women’s tournament have been confirmed for Bellator Fighting Championships 25. Jessica Pene will take on Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto, while Lisa Ward faces Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly. MMAjunkie.com was first to report on both fights, which will take place on August 19th.

The women’s tournament will begin at Bellator 24 on August 12th. As first reported by MMARising.com, Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii will face Angela Magana, while Jessica “Jag” Aguilar battles Lynn “Lights Out” Alvarez.

Pene (7-0-0) is one of the more well-rounded fighters in the tournament, but the majority of her victories to date have come by way of submission. She holds big victories over FCF and Legends MMA champ “Slick” Sally Krumdiack and fellow tournament participant Angela Magana. However, the California native has not competed since the bout with Magana last September and a planned pre-tournament fight with Bellator did not come to fruition in June. Pene won’t have an easy fight in her return to the promotion, as Frausto is coming off of the biggest victory of her career.

Frausto (7-1-0) was not even scheduled to be part of the Bellator tournament, but all of that changed in an instant when she knocked out Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton at Bellator 24 on June 24th. A talented striker, Frausto has worked down from 135 pounds – where she suffered her lone defeat in a March bout with Miesha “Takedown” Tate in Strikeforce – and will compete at 115 pounds for the first time in August. She will hold a significant size and strength advantage over many of the other competitors and a victory over the unbeaten Pene would send a strong message to the rest of the field.

 

Ward (13-5-0) is one of the most experienced fighters in the tournament and already holds wins over Jessica “Jag” Aguilar, Miku “Supernova” Matsumoto and Ayumi “Edge” Saito. She was successful in her Bellator debut on June 17th, as she choked out Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto – sister of Zoila Frausto – in the first round. A respected submission specialist, nine of Ward’s victories have come by tapout. More impressively, she has won fights with seven different types of submissions, highlighted by the scarf hold armlock victory over Matsumoto. She will look to hand Daly her first defeat.

Daly (9-0-0) is seen by many as a wild card entrant in the tournament. Unbeaten but competing primarily outside of the spotlight in Ireland and England, Daly has made a name for herself as one of the top female fighters in Europe. She is known best for her striking abilities, but has won three times by submission and, like Pene, is developing into a well-rounded mixed martial artist. Daly most recently defeated Strikeforce signee Maiju Kujala in November, but has not fought since then. A standup battle with Ward would favour Daly, but she must be wary of Ward’s ground game.

Bellator 25 takes place on August 19th at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

 

Bellator 115-Pound Women’s Tournament Matchups:

– Bellator 24: Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii (20-0-0) vs Angela Magana (9-4-0)
– Bellator 24: Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (8-3-0) vs Lynn “Lights Out” Alvarez (5-1-0)
– Bellator 25: Jessica Pene (7-0-0) vs Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto (7-1-0)
– Bellator 25: Lisa Ward (13-5-0) vs Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly (9-0-0)