Luis Palomino, ‘Doomsday’ Howard Among New Additions to WSOF 31 Main Card

World Series of Fighting on Monday announced three new bouts to complete the main card for June’s WSOF 31.

Two-time lightweight title challenger Luis Palomino will return to featherweight for a fight with Brazilian striker Sheymon da Silva Moraes, while new welterweight acquisition John Howard will make his WSOF debut against submission specialist Thiago Meller. Also added was a heavyweight tilt between Chris Barnett and Justin Willis.

WSOF 31 takes place June 17 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, with heavyweight champion Blagoy Ivanov defending his belt against Josh Copeland in the five-round main event. Set to co-headline the NBCSN-televised card is a lightweight duel between Jason High and Mike Ricci.

Palomino, 35, will move back down the scale after spending the better part of five years as a lightweight, including a 3-3 record in the WSOF 155-pound division. His opponent, 25-year-old Moraes, recently returned to the featherweight division after an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone bantamweight ace Marlon Moraes.

Howard enters his WSOF debut having won just one of his last five outings, a stretch which saw “Doomsday” released by the UFC earlier this year. In Meller, he meets another newcomer with plenty of experience; the Brazilian’s résumé boasts 20 victories, including 14 by way of submission.

Barnett has emerged victorious from nine of his last 10 bouts and will have a chance to add another “W” when he faces Kirill Sidelnikov at this weekend’s Rizin event. “Huggy Bear” should be familiar with American Kickboxing Academy product Willis, with whom he has twice shared a bill in Japan’s Inoki Genome Fight.