Brian Rogers vs. Alessio Sakara set for Bellator 152 in Italy

Brian Rogers

Bellator’s debut event in Italy has its first fight, and it features some familiar names.

As previously announced, former UFC fighter Alessio Sakara (17-11 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is slated for the event, and he now has an opponent for Bellator 152: fellow light heavyweight Brian Rogers (12-8 MMA, 5-6 BMMA).

Rogers today helped announce the bout (via Twitter):

Bellator 152 takes place April 16 at Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Sakura recently halted a five-fight winless streak (four losses and one no-contest) with a TKO victory over Dib Akil at a September event in Austria. The 34-year-old, who now fights in his home country of Italy, has 11 knockouts in 17 career wins and owns past victories over the likes of Thales Leites, James Irvin and Elvis Sinosic.

Although a crowd-pleaser who also possesses dangerous knockout power, Rogers has experienced mixed results in Bellator, where he’s failed to put together back-to-back wins since joining the promotion in 2011. However, the 31-year-old former collegiate football player recently submitted Virgil Zwicker and could make it two in a row if victorious against Sakara.

For more on Bellator 152, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.