Bellator 61: Pat Curran vs. Joe Warren ;Featherweight Title Bout on March 9

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Pat Curran will get his second crack at Bellator gold on March 9 at Bellator 61.

That's when the fast-rising featherweight will face off with reigning champion Joe Warren at The Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced on Wednesday.

In 2011, Curran won a chance to fight for the lightweight crown but fell in a unanimous decision to Eddie Alvarez. Afterward, he dropped weight to move into the lower division and steamrolled the tournament field with finish wins over Luis Palomino and Marlon Sandro, as well as a decision over Ronnie Mann, to advance to a title bout.

Since then, Curran (16-4) has been waiting on the sidelines for his chance, as first, Warren (7-2) tried his hand at becoming a two-division champ but got knocked out by bantamweight Alexis Vila. And then, Curran was forced to wait as previous tournament winner Patricio "Pitbull" Freire was queued up to fight Warren first.

As it turns out, Freire suffered a hand injury that required surgery, allowing Curran to cash in his opportunity first.

For Curran, it will be a home game of sorts, as the Crystal Lake, Illinois fighter is based only about 75 miles from the fight venue.

Bellator's sixth season premieres with a March 2 event, though a location for that show has yet to be announced.

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Bellator Sets Eric Prindle-Thiago Santos Heavyweight Finals Rematch for March 16

In November, Bellator's heavyweight tournament finals match went to a no contest, after an illegal but accidental low blow by Thiago Santos left Eric Prindle unable to continue. The fight, which will determine the next challenger to face champion Cole Konrad, has now been reset for a March 9 date.

The bout will take place at Bellator 61, the second show of Bellator's sixth season, and will emanate from Bossier City at the Horseshoe Riverdome in Louisiana.

At Bellator 59, Santos (10-1, 1 no contest) had Prindle (7-1, 1 no contest) prone on the ground when he landed a kick between Prindle's legs just 84 seconds into the fight. After a five-minute recovery period, Prindle still couldn't continue and the fight was ruled a no contest after the referee determined the blow to be accidental.

The March 16 event will also host the quarterfinals of a middleweight tournament.

Those bouts are also set, and the matchups will pair UFC veteran Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy, Brian Rogers vs. Vitor Vianna, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O' Donnell and Giva "The Arm Collector" Santana vs. Bruno Santos.

Vianna (12-2-1) was a finalist in last season's middleweight tournament, losing a decision to Alexander Shlemenko in the finals.

Vasilevsky is a notable new entrant to the field, coming in with a 15-1 record and riding a 14-fight win streak. The fight will also mark his US debut.