Shortly after Rafael Lovato Jr. announced that he would be surrendering the Bellator middleweight championship, officials moved to crown a new titleholder.
Gegard Mousasi, a former division champion, will meet welterweight champ Douglas Lima on May 9.
The card takes place from the SAP Center in San Jose, California and will air live on both Paramount Network and DAZN.
The event is anchored by a previously announced heavyweight world title bout, featuring two-division Bellator champ Ryan Bader (27-5, 1 NC) defending his 205-pound title against Russia’s Vadim Nemkov (11-2).
Fighting out of Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands, Mousasi has cemented legendary status within the sport, having won titles with multiple promotions across a 55-fight career.
Most recently, Mousasi defeated Lyoto Machida via split decision, clearing his path to a shot at a second Bellator middleweight title run. With victories in his storied career against Machida, Rory MacDonald, Chris Weidman, Rafael Carvalho, Vitor Belfort, Jacare Souza, Dan Henderson and Mark Hunt.
Looking to join the ranks of Bader and Patricio “Pitbull” as two-division champions, Lima moves up 15-pounds to try his hand against Mousasi. Since making his promotional debut in 2011, “The Phenom” has earned 14 victories, including a trio of world titles and 10 finishes, making the American Top Team-product one of the most dominant fighters in the 170-pound division.
With 26 of his 32 career victories coming by way of knockout or submission, including consecutive dominant finishes over Andrey Koreshkov and Michael “Venom” Page” in the first two rounds of the World Grand Prix tournament, Lima most recently capped of his 2019 with a win over Rory MacDonald to regain the welterweight world title.
Paramount Network and DAZN
10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT
Light Heavyweight World Title Bout: Ryan Bader (27-5, 1 NC) vs. Vadim Nemkov (11-2)
Middleweight World Title Bout: Gegard Mousasi (46-7-2) vs. Douglas Lima (32-7)
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