Francis Carmont vs. Guilherme Viana, Ryan Couture vs. Dakota Cochrane slated for Bellator 135

Francis Carmont’s Bellator debut will be at a brand new weight class. A formerly ranked UFC middleweight, the six-foot-three Carmont will shoot up to 205 pounds for a light heavyweight match-up against TUF Brazil 3 alum Guilherme Viana at Bellator 135, promotion officials announced Tuesday.

That fight, along with a newly-announced lightweight clash between Ryan Couture and Dakota Cochrane, are expected to round out Bellator 135’s main card, which airs March 27 live on Spike TV.

Carmont (22-10) achieved great success early in his UFC run, racking up six consecutive victories to earn a top contender fight against Ronaldo Souza. Carmont fell short against “Jacare”, however, and went on to lose back-to-back fights against C.B. Dollaway and Thales Leites to be handed his UFC walking papers.

He’ll now look to bounce back against Viana (6-1), a heavy-handed Brazilian prospect who failed to make it out of the elimination round as a heavyweight on Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva’s season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Fellow UFC veteran Couture (9-3), meanwhile, looks to continue his recent hot-streak after nabbing his third straight rear-naked choke win in his Sept. 2014 Bellator debut against Tom Bagnasco. In doing so, he’ll fact Cochrane (18-7), another TUF alum who snapped a two-fight losing streak with a 43-second TKO win over Ted Worthington this past December.

Bellator 135 takes place at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Joe Warren attempts to defend his Bellator bantamweight title against Marcos Galvao in the night’s main event, while former titleholder Eduardo Dantas looks to rebound against hard-hitting Mike Richman in the co-feature fight.

Francis Carmont’s Bellator debut will be at a brand new weight class. A formerly ranked UFC middleweight, the six-foot-three Carmont will shoot up to 205 pounds for a light heavyweight match-up against TUF Brazil 3 alum Guilherme Viana at Bellator 135, promotion officials announced Tuesday.

That fight, along with a newly-announced lightweight clash between Ryan Couture and Dakota Cochrane, are expected to round out Bellator 135’s main card, which airs March 27 live on Spike TV.

Carmont (22-10) achieved great success early in his UFC run, racking up six consecutive victories to earn a top contender fight against Ronaldo Souza. Carmont fell short against “Jacare”, however, and went on to lose back-to-back fights against C.B. Dollaway and Thales Leites to be handed his UFC walking papers.

He’ll now look to bounce back against Viana (6-1), a heavy-handed Brazilian prospect who failed to make it out of the elimination round as a heavyweight on Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva’s season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Fellow UFC veteran Couture (9-3), meanwhile, looks to continue his recent hot-streak after nabbing his third straight rear-naked choke win in his Sept. 2014 Bellator debut against Tom Bagnasco. In doing so, he’ll fact Cochrane (18-7), another TUF alum who snapped a two-fight losing streak with a 43-second TKO win over Ted Worthington this past December.

Bellator 135 takes place at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Joe Warren attempts to defend his Bellator bantamweight title against Marcos Galvao in the night’s main event, while former titleholder Eduardo Dantas looks to rebound against hard-hitting Mike Richman in the co-feature fight.