Bellator 217 takes place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Feb. 23 and is headlined by a bantamweight clash between James Gallagher and Steven Graham. The card airs on Paramount Network and DAZN at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. Prelims stream on Bellator.com and the Bellator Mobile App.
Anchored at SBG Ireland, Kavanagh has lost three of her last four Bellator appearances. Most recently, Kavanagh suffered a TKO defeat against Janay Harding at Bellator 207 due to a cut. Kavanagh owns a 5-3 career record.
Israel’s Rubin has established herself as a featherweight to watch in compiling a 5-0 record to begin her career. After scoring a second-round TKO of Joana Filipa Magalhaes in her debut, the Pariente Academy representative took a three-round verdict over Cindy Dandois at Bellator 209 on Nov. 15.
In addition to Kavanagh vs. Rubin, the California-based promotion announced eight preliminary fights for the Feb. 23 card: Paul Redmond vs. Charlie Leary at lightweight; Walter Gahadza vs. Ruben Crawford at welterweight; Richie Smullen vs. Adam Gustab at featherweight; Richard Kiely vs. Mikael Bucher at welterweight; John Redmond vs. George Tokkos at middleweight; Leah McCourt vs. Hatice Ozyurt at featherweight; Dylan Logan vs. Andrew Murphy at featherweight and Sam Slater vs. Chris Duncan at lightweight.