A light heavyweight rematch between Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis is expected to headline a newly announced Bellator event on September 11.
First reported by Combate and later MMAFighting, a fight between Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida is expected to headline a Bellator event on September 11. The fight is a rematch of their bout in the UFC back in 2013 where Davis bested Machida via unanimous decision in Machida’s home country of Brazil. Though unconfirmed, the fight is expected to take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.
Davis (21-5) is looking to notch his third straight victory after recording back-to-back victories over Liam McGeary and Karl Albrektsson last year. A former Bellator light heavyweight champion, Davis has an 8-2 record in the promotion since signing with the company in 2015 and his only losses have come to current champion Ryan Bader and top contender Vadim Nemkov in that span. Davis also signed a multi-fight extension with the promotion prior to his victory over Albrektsson.
Machida (26-9) is looking to get back in the win-column after dropping a decision to former champion Gegard Mousasi last September that snapped the four-fight win streak he had accumulated going back to his time in the UFC. A former light heavyweight champion in the Octagon, Machida injected great interest into Bellator when he signed with the promotion in 2018 and reeled off victories over longtime former champion Rafael Carvalho and fighter turned media personality Chael Sonnen.
Currently, no other bouts for the September 11 event have been announced at this time. This is the third Bellator event to be announced since events were halted in March. The promotion currently has an event scheduled on July 24 and August 07.
