Linton Vassell vs. Ronny Markes Targeted for Bellator 254 on Dec. 10

A heavyweight showdown between Linton Vassell and Ronny Markes has been targeted for Bellator 254.

Sherdog.com confirmed the bout, which has not been finalized, with a source close to the situation following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Bellator 254 takes place on Dec. 10 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and is headlined by a women’s flyweight championship tilt between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Juliana Velasquez.

A two-time light heavyweight title challenger, Vassell moved up to heavyweight in 2019, when he fell to Valentin Moldavsky in his big-man debut at Bellator 218. “The Swarm” rebounded in his last outing, as he scored a second-round technical knockout victory against Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 234 in November 2019.

Markes has been scheduled to make his promotional debut against Josh Barnett (twice) and Matt Mitrione at two separate events, but on each occasion the fights fell through for various reasons. The five-time UFC veteran hasn’t competed since a second-round stoppage of Sigi Pesaleli under the Professional Fighters League banner in June 2019.