Douglas Lima will resume his Bellator profession and return to the cage in San Diego on Sept. 7, when “The Phenom” takes on Dana White’s Contender Sequence veteran Aaron Jeffery in a middleweight showdown.
Promotional officers confirmed the reserving to MMA Combating.
The Bellator Champions card will function Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Alexander Shabliy for the light-weight title in the primary occasion dwell on MAX.
Lima (33-11) publicly complained he was put “on the sidelines for a 12 months” after PFL allegedly deemed his purse to be “too excessive” following the PFL-Bellator merger. Lima in the end reached a deal with the promotion in a matter of days, and now has a bout booked.
Lima was one of the crucial profitable champions in Bellator historical past, beating the likes of Michael Web page, Rory MacDonald, Andrey Koreshkov and Paul Daley, however had his again in opposition to the wall after dropping 4 straight. Lima final fought in Could 2023, defeating Costello van Steenis by way of choice.
Jeffery (14-5) received three of 5 beneath the Bellator banner, together with finishes over Austin Vanderford and Fabio Aguiar. Jeffery, who misplaced a choice to Caio Borralho at DWCS in 2021, was on the dropping finish of a choice in his most up-to-date bout versus Fabian Edwards.
The present Bellator Champions Sequence: San Diego lineup will see Raufeon Stots vs. Marcos Breno within the co-main occasion spot and Lorenz Larkin battling Levan Chokheli, Bellator introduced Tuesday.
Stots (20-2) rebounded from a loss to champion Patchy Combine with a choice victory over Danny Sabatello this previous November, boosting his promotional document to 8-1. Stots, who now holds two wins over Sabatello, has additionally crushed the likes of Juan Archuleta, Magomed Magomedov and Keith Lee beneath the Bellator banner.
Breno (15-3), alternatively, is trying to bounce again from a defeat to Sabatello in his most up-to-date look in April 2023, dropping his Bellator document to 1-1. The 135-pound expertise received a choice over Josh Hill in late 2022 in promotional debut after beating fellow prospects Ary Farias and Leandro da Silva within the Brazilian circuit.
Larkin (26-8, 2 no contests), who stopped Alan Domínguez in beneath 5 minutes at PFL 6 this previous June, re-enters the Bellator cage trying to placed on a streak collectively after seeing his eight-fight unbeaten streak snap in a cut up choice to Andrey Koreshkov in July 2023.
Chokheli (13-2, 1 no contest) received his previous three beneath the Bellator banner, amassing choices over Roman Faraldo and Michael Lombardo earlier than tapping Sabah Homasi in beneath two minutes at Bellator 299 in Dublin.
