Bellator XIV fight card ....

One day before Bellator Fighting Championships’ much-anticipated show at the Chicago Theatre, the historic venue played host to the official weigh-in for the event.

Bellator 14 will be broadcast live in prime time nationwide on Thursday on FOX Sports Net and during special Bellator highlight shows on Saturday night on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

The card’s Main Event is a matchup between former NCAA wrestling champion and 2008 U.S. Olympian Ben Askren and former UFC standout Ryan “The Tank Engine” Thomas, who used Wednesday night’s weigh-in as an opportunity to set the stage for the fight.

“Ben is a great wrestler, but this isn’t a wrestling match,” Thomas said during the press conference portion of the event. “So we’re gonna find out if he’s a real fighter or if he should just stick to wrestling.”

Without missing a beat, Askren shot back confidently that “the last person who talked about my wrestling got put to sleep.”

The official results of the weigh-in are as follows:

Main Card:

• Ben Askren (170.5) versus Ryan Thomas (170.5) – at 170 lbs.
• Shad Lierley (144.5) versus Wilson Reis (145.5) – at 145 lbs.
• Mike Ricci (155.5) versus Pat Curran (155.5) – at 155 lbs.
• James Krause (155.5) versus Toby Imada (155.5) – at 155 lbs.

Local Feature Fight Card:

• Jeff Curran (141) versus Bryan Goldsby (141) – at 140 lbs. catchweight
• Felice Herrig (117) versus Jessica Rakoczy (121) – at 120 lbs. catchweight
• Daniel Straus (154) versus Jonatas Novaes (156) – at 155 lbs.
• Louis Taylor (185.5) versus Ryan Sturdy (188.5)* – at 185 lbs.

(*Sturdy has 90 minutes to make weight. Update will follow.)