Gegard Mousasi will finally get the change to avenge his loss to Lyoto Machida five years after the fact.
Gegard Mousasi and Lyoto Machida will meet in the co-main event of Bellator 228. Promotion officials announced the matchup on Thursday.
Mousasi looks to bounce back quickly after losing his Bellator middleweight title to Rafael Lovato Jr. by majority decision on June 22. His next opponent will be another man who left the UFC on a winning streak, Machida.
The two first met in the main event of UFC Jaragua do Sul way back in 2014. Machida won the encounter via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45). Since then, Mousasi has campaigned for a rematch — especially once both fighters found themselves under the Bellator umbrella. Mousasi (45-7-2) has accused Machida (26-8) of greasing in the fight. Mousasi also criticized Machida for his 18-month U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspension.
The two high-profile fighters enter the bout on different waves of momentum. While Mousasi lost his title via decision, Machida has won four straight fights including two in Bellator against Chael Sonnen and Rafael Carvalho.
Bellator 228’s main event is a Featherweight World Grand Prix title fight between Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Juan Archuleta. The event takes place at the Forum in Inglewood, California on Sept. 28. It will stream live exclusively on DAZN at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while preliminary action can be seen on Bloody Elbow’s website via Bellator.com. The prelims can also be seen on DAZN and using the Bellator Mobile App.