Three Minnesota fighters will be in the national spotlight Thursday night when Bellator Fighting Championships broadcasts live from the Wang Theater in Boston, Mass.

The highlight of the night will be the national debut of Gopher wrestling phenom Cole Konrad (2-0) as he takes on Marcellus, N.Y.'s Pat Bennett (1-0) in a "Heavyweight Feature Fight."

The fight will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net around the country and on tape delay starting at 10:30 p.m. in the Twin Cities following the Twins vs. Orioles baseball game.

Konrad, who won back-to-back NCAA championships as a heavyweight wrestler at the University of Minnesota and a gold medal in the 2005 Pan-American games, still holds the Gopher record for most consecutive wins with 76 victories.

Ultimately Konrad is best known nationally as one of UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar's training partners. The Bellator fight gives Konrad a chance to show America he has the potential to be just as good, if not better, than his famous sparring partner.

"Brock Lesnar's dominance in the UFC has shown the impact that an elite, world-class heavyweight wrestler can have in MMA," said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Like the rest of the MMA world, we're expecting big things from Cole and are excited to see him in his first nationally televised fight under the Bellator banner this Thursday in Boston on FOX Sports Net."

Konrad had his first MMA bout in January in Fargo defeating Gary Hamen by submission in just 1:13. He followed it up a month later with a victory in Philadelphia over Joel Wyatt by TKO early in the first round. Bennett, his opponent on Thursday night, made his pro debut last August and was 3-0 as an amateur before that.

Also featured on the show will be the semi-final matches of Bellator's lightweight tournament, featuring former Augsburg wrestling standout and UFC veteran Roger Huerta (23-3-1) and Minneapolis fighter Carey Vanier (8-2).

Huerta will be taking on Illinois native Pat Curran (10-3) in his semi-final matchup while Vanier will be taking on the runner-up of last year's BFC lightweight tournament, Toby Imada (24-13).

Huerta, who I wrote about in-depth last month, earned his semi-final fight by defeating Cincinnati's Chad Hinton by submission with a knee bar early in the third round of their fight. Vanier fought his way into the semi-finals with a TKO victory over Joe Duarte. A victory by both men would set up a showdown between the two this summer for a chance to take on Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alverez later this year.

Alverez will also be on the card tomorrow night when he takes on former UFC fighter Josh Neer in a lightweight "Super Fight."