London we have fight news!!!! pic.twitter.com/xpRFx4OrS3
— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) March 29, 2019
Bellator MMA is heading back to London in June with a card headlined by a middleweight championship collision, with Gegard Mousasi defending his belt against Rafael Lovato Jr.
The extremely well-traveled Mousasi has won all three of his bouts inside the Bellator cage since making his organizational debut in 2017. Defeating former champ Alexander Shlemenko by a close decision, he went on to win the middleweight title against Rafael Carvalho by first round knockout, and then defended it against Rory MacDonald last September at Bellator 206. Mousasi is one of the only fighters in MMA history to ever compete for Pride Fighting Championships, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Strikeforce, Dream and Bellator.
Submission specialist Lovato Jr. most recently tapped out John Salter at Bellator 205, improving his undefeated record to 9-0. In those nine wins, Lovato Jr. has finished eight of those opponents. His lone decision came against Chris Honeycutt at Bellator 189 in 2017, where he handed Honeycutt his first career defeat on the scorecards.
Bellator London will take place on June 22 at a to-be-announced venue in London. Headlining the card will be a middleweight championship showdown between Gegard Mousasi and Rafael Lovato Jr.