Alexander Volkov will finally return to the Bellator cage in April.
The former Bellator heavyweight champion is scheduled to take on Tony Johnson in a main card bout at Bellator 136 in Irvine, Calif., on April 10. The promotion announced the match-up on Wednesday.
Volkov (24-4) scored back-to-back victories in Russia since his last appearance under the Bellator banner, a second-round submission over Blagoi Ivanov in May. The Russian heavyweight is 6-1 in Bellator with four stoppage victories.
Johnson (8-2) returns to Bellator for the first time since 2011, when he scored a unanimous decision victory over now UFC fighter Derrick Lewis. Johnson won two out of three since, including a victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at ONE FC 9.
The six preliminary bouts added to the Bellator 136 card are Fabricio Guerreiro (20-3) vs. John Teixeira (17-1-2), Cleber Luciano (10-5) vs. Aaron Miller (14-9), Chad George (15-8) vs. Mark Vorgeas (5-2-1), Ben Jones (4-4) vs. Luc Bondole (4-1-1), John Mercurio (6-7) vs. Greg Parker (4-1) and Marcos Bonilla (1-1) vs. A.J. McKee (0-0).
A bantamweight clash between Jared Papazian (18-11) and Raja Shippen (14-9-1), announced to take place at the event, was scrapped by the promotion.
Bellator 136 takes place at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif., on April 10. In the main event, lightweight champion Will Brooks (15-1) puts his title on the line against Dave Jansen (20-2).
Main Card:
Will Brooks vs. Dave Jansen
Joe Schilling vs. Rafael Carvalho
Marcin Held vs. Alexander Sarnavskiy
Alexander Volkov vs. Tony Johnson
Preliminary Card:
John Mercurio vs. Greg Parker
Joey Beltran vs. Brian Rogers
Saad Awad vs. Rob Sinclair
Fabricio Guerreiro vs. John Teixeira
Jonathan Santa Maria vs. Steve Ramirez
Marcos Bonilla vs. A.J. McKee
Dark Bouts:
Ben Jones vs. Luc Bondole
Chad George vs. Mark Vorgeas
Cleber Luciano vs. Aaron Miller