The welterweight pairing will be part of the event’s preliminary draw. Bellator 181 takes place at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Okla., on July 14 and is headlined by a lightweight rematch between Patricky Freire and Derek Campos. The evening’s main card will air on Spike at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while the preliminary bouts stream immediately prior on Bellator.com.
Fialho, 23, won his first seven pro bouts before suffering a 21-second technical knockout loss to Chidi Njokuani in his most recent outing at Bellator 167. The Portugal native has finished all of his victories inside the distance and six within a single round.
The 29-year-old Matthews enters the matchup on a three-fight skid after falling to Hisaki Kato, Ben Reiter and Anatoly Tokov in succession. The Carlsbad, Calif., native is 4-5 in Bellator and 8-6 as a professional overall.