Former Amateur World Champion Michelle Montague will make her Bellator debut against Karolina Sobek at Bellator Champions Series: Dublin.
As so many amateurs opt to do, Montague took the IMMAF route in order to gain invaluable experience against global opposition from just her third amateur fight. It became quickly apparent that 'The Wild One' possessed a serious talent for the sport, claiming the 2019 World Women's Lightweight championship in her maiden IMMAF tournament.
The New Zealand native would then go on to claim gold at the Oceania Open Championship in 2020 and two Bronze medals at the 2021 European and 2022 World Championships.
After turning over to the professional ranks, Montague was given her first shot at a major promotion in her professional debut, when she featured on the 2022 PFL Challenger Series. Although picking up the first round win, she was not selected to sign with the promotion. After another submission win at iKON FC 5. She was back on the Challenger Series 12 months later to pick up her third successive submission win before making the walk to Smart Cage six months later to secure yet another victory.
On June 22, Karolina Sobek will look to stop the rising prospect and get herself back to winning ways in the process.
Although not as extensive as Montague, Sobek's amateur career was also a lengthy one. Over a three year period, the Poland native competed 12 times, amassing a 8-4 record.
After an MMA Bare Knuckle bout, Sobek made her professional debut in September 2020. After three fights on Polish domestic scene, Sobek made the trip to France to compete on Ares FC, against a 6-0-0 Mariza Loch. It was her biggest win to date when the then 22-year-old tied up a second round modified Americana.
The big win then landed Sobek a showcase bout on the PFL Regular Season in 2022 against the fellow 4-0 Evelyn Martins. It was the first time in her career Sobek had went the distance but was handed her first loss by way of unanimous decision.
She then faced Aspen Ladd who secured a win with a second round Armbar just three seconds before the bell.
The Featherweight bout is another welcome addition to the Dublin card, which includes Peter Queally vs Yancy Medeiros, Sinead Kavanagh vs Alrene Blencowe and Kasum Kasumov vs Matheus Mattos, with Jason Jackson looking to make his first title defence against Ramazan Kuramagomedov.
