Bellator 228 has its main and co-main event set. Headlining the card is the previously reported Patricio Pitbull vs. Juan Archuleta and in the co-main event, former champion Gegard Mousasi will rematch Lyoto Machida.
Bellator officially announced Gegard Mousasi vs. Lyoto Machida in a press release, while you can find our previous article on Juan Archuleta vs. Patricio Pitbull here.
Gegard Mousasi and Lyoto Machida first fought in a five-round UFC main event back in 2014. Machida was victorious by unanimous decision, and the pair was rewarded with Fight of the Night recognition.
Gegard Mousasi is looking to bounce back from losing his middleweight title to Rafael Lovato Jr. Prior to that, Mousasi was 3-0 in Bellator with wins over Alexander Shlemenko, Rafael Carvalho, and Rory MacDonald. The Lovato loss snapped an eight-fight win streak for Mousasi. The former DREAM and Strikeforce champion was an excellent 9-3 in the UFC and was a top middleweight contender prior to his exit from the promotion.
Lyoto Machida is 2-0 in Bellator thus far, defeating Rafael Carvalho and Chael Sonnen. Machida left the UFC after securing a pair of wins in 2018 over Eryk Anders and Vitor Belfort. Machida won the first 16 fights of his career, half of which were in the UFC. After an incredible knockout over Rashad Evans to win the title, Machida was seen as the UFC’s next dominant champion, but lost to Shogun Rua in his second title defense.
Bellator 228 takes place on September 28 inside The Forum in Inglewood, California. Patricio Pitbull will put his featherweight title on the line against Juan Archuleta as a part of the Featherweight Grand Prix in the main event.
