Bellator middleweight champ Hector Lombard (27-2-1) will meet Hawaiian native Falaniko Vitale (28-9) in a non-title bout at an upcoming Bellator 44 event.
MMAjunkie.com reported the news Tuesday morning noting that both men have made verbal agreements to meet on May 14. The event has yet to be officially announced so no venue or city has been named for the May event.
Lombard enters the fight on a 21 bout unbeaten streak having defended his Bellator middleweight title for the first time last October. He earned a unanimous decision over Russian Alexander Shlemenko, the season two middleweight tournament winner, at Bellator 34. The win was Lombard’s sixteenth in a row and sixth under Bellator having also defeated Herbert Goodman at Bellator 24, as well as Jay Silva at Bellator 16 in 2010.
This bout will mark Vitale’s Bellator debut with the promotion after a long career that has seen him fight in the UFC (1-1), Strikeforce (1-2) and most recently for the Hawaii based X-1 promotion (6-0). Vitale’s last two bouts were for X-1, using an Ezekiel choke to defeat to win both matches against Kala Hose in September and Kalib Starnes in March of last year.