Bantamweight Brett Johns will make his second walk to the Bellator cage next month in Dublin.
Johns (17-3) is set to face Khurshed Kakhorov (8-0) at Bellator 275 on February 25, 2022 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Cageside Press confirmed the booking with a source familiar with the situation, following an initial report by TJ Sport.
Come fight night, Johns will be looking to secure his first win under the Bellator promotional banner. He debuted for the organization last year, off the strength of back-to-back wins in the UFC. The Welsh fighter would come up short against Danny Sabatello at Bellator 259 in May, however.
Johns had been expected to return to action in October against fellow UFC ex-pat Erick Perez. With Perez pulling out of the bout, Johns was left without a fight.
Khurshed Kakhorov will also be entering the Bellator cage for the second time when he takes on “The Pikey.” Undefeated through eight fights as a pro, he picked up a unanimous decision win in his promotional debut, against Jair Junior.
Bellator 275 is expected to be headlined by a middleweight title fight, with Gegard Mousasi defending his 185lb championship against Austin Vanderford. The following bouts have been reported for the event thus far:
Gegard Mousasi (c) vs. Austin Vanderford — for the Bellator MMA middleweight championship
Peter Queally vs. Kane Mousah
Leah McCourt vs. Sinead Kavanagh
Charlie Leary vs. Davy Gallon
Junior Morgan vs. Darragh Kelly
Danni McCormack vs. Stephanie Ielö
Page Nathan Kelly vs. Scott Pedersen
Khasan Magomedsharipov vs. Jose Sanchez
Khurshed Kakhorov vs. Brett Johns
Brian Moore vs. Jornel Lugo
