Patricky Freire vs. Sidney Outlaw Headlines Bellator 283 in Washington on July 22

Patricky Freire will defend his lightweight crown against Sidney Outlaw at Bellator 283 on July 22.

Promotion officials announced the headlining bout on Tuesday. Bellator 283 takes place at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash., and will also see Douglas Lima square off against Jason Jackson in the evening’s co-main event, while Usman Nurmagomedov meets Chris Gonzalez at lightweight in another featured contest. The main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Three preliminary bouts were also confirmed for Bellator 283: Adam Piccolotti vs. Tofiq Musayev at lightweight; Romero Cotton vs. Dalton Rosta at middleweight and Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Bobby King at lightweight.

Freire claimed 155-pound gold at Bellator 270, when he defeated Peter Queally via second-round TKO in their rematch on Nov. 5. The 36-year-old “Pitbull” brother has competed under the Bellator banner since 2011, compiling a 15-8 mark and earning wins over the likes of Benson Henderson, Josh Thomson, Ryan Couture, Roger Huerta and Saad Awad, to name a few.

Outlaw has been victorious in three of four promotional appearances, with his only loss coming at the hands of Michael Chandler at Bellator 237. Most recently, the Dante Rivera BJJ product submitted Myles Jury with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their clash at Bellator 261 in June 2021.