Eduardo Dantas Moves to Featherweight, Meets Juan Archuleta at Bellator 222 in New York

Former bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas will try his hand at 145 pounds when he faces Juan Archuleta at Bellator 222.

Sherdog.com confirmed the pairing with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Bellator 222 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 14 and is headlined by a welterweight grand prix semifinal between Rory MacDonald and Neiman Gracie. Dantas vs. Archuleta is slated for the main card, which airs exclusively on DAZN beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Dantas snapped a two-bout skid in his most recent outing, as he outpointed Toby Misech at Bellator 215. Prior to that, the 30-year-old Brazilian relinquished his belt in a five-round loss to Darrion Caldwell before suffering a 50-second KO loss at the hands of Michael McDonald. “Dudu” is 21-6 as a professional and 11-3 in Bellator.

Archuleta, meanwhile, won his 17th consecutive fight with a unanimous verdict over Ricky Bandejas at Bellator 214 on Jan. 28. The former King of the Cage champion has lost just once in 23 professional appearances overall.