Former Bellator Champ Straus, UFC Ref Goddard to Compete in May 14 Grappling Event

Tanko Events, one of the U.K.’s newest fight promotions announced Friday afternoon that it will be hosting three different types of combat-related events next month, including real-time action featuring former Bellator featherweight king Daniel Straus and longtime MMA referee Marc Goddard in grappling matches against separate foes.

Tanko Fighting Championships, the MMA branch of the promotion, is set for its fourth event on May 12. Lawrence Fitzpatrick, who is fresh off first-round submission win over longtime MMA veteran Charles Bennett in February at TFC 3, will return to action against Cage Warriors and Bellator veteran Anthony Dizy. Panico Yusuf will fight Jordan Vucenic on the card as well, and Mohammed Mokaev will take on Warren Mason for the Tanko flyweight title.

Meanwhile, Tanko Muay Thai League 2 will go down May 13 with Jack Kennedy locking horns with Ben Lucas in the featured duel. Jack McGuire will square off against Mike Egan as well, while Ammari Diedrik will stand opposite Sam Omomogbe (online betting).

Finally, the inaugural Tanko Submission Championships is set for May 14 to close out the three-day event. Some of the world’s best MMA fighters and Brazilian jiu-jitsu players will compete against one another in grappling matches. Headlining TSC 1 will be none other than former Bellator 145-pound monarch Straus, as he will look to out-grapple Lucio Sergio Santos. Referee Marc Goddard will put his black latex gloves down for as long as he needs when he opposes Kameron Atakura in the co-feature.

Tanko Events will unveil additional bouts for each card in the coming days. The location of the three events was not officially announced on Friday, nor was any live streaming information.