Another Hawaiian talent will be fighting on the Bellator 279 card in Honolulu this April.
Kai Kamaka III (9-4-1) is set to take on Justin Gonzalez (12-1) at the April 23, 2022 event, the second of back-to-back nights at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena. Kamaka announced the news via social media. Bellator officials subsequently confirmed the match-up.
The featherweight fight will see Kamaka looking for his second straight win under the Bellator MMA banner. Hawaii’s Kamaka first fought for the promotion from 2018 to 2019, winning a pair of fights, before jumping to LFA and then the UFC. However, a 1-2-1 run inside the octagon brought him back to Bellator last year, where he won a unanimous decision against John De Jesus in December.
Gonzales, meanwhile, will be looking to rebound from his first loss as a professional. That came against Aaron Pico, and saw Gonzales dropping a unanimous decision. Gonzales won his debut in the promotion one fight prior, winning a split decision against Tywan Claxton.
The Bellator 279 card currently features the following reported bouts:
- Sergio Pettis (c) vs. Raufeon Stots – for the Bellator MMA bantamweight championship / bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal
- Cris Cyborg (c) vs. Arlene Blencowe – for the Bellator MMA women’s featherweight championship
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Patchy Mix – bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal
- Justine Kish vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
- Yancy Medeiros vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
- Kai Kamaka III vs. Justin Gonzales
