Bellator dropped some big news Tuesday with the announcement of a championship doubleheader at their May 9 show in San Jose. The main event will feature promotional “champ-champ” Ryan Bader (27-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), who puts his light heavyweight title on the line against surging contender Vadim Nemkov (11-2 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) as he bids to maintain his position as a simultaneous two-division champion. But it’s the announcement of the co-main event that has really caught the imagination, with reigning welterweight king and grand prix victor Douglas Lima (32-7 MMA, 14-3 BMMA) stepping up to 185 pounds to take on former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (46-7-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) for the newly-vacated title. The event represents Bellator’s biggest statement of 2020, as they stack the deck for arguably their most important card of the year so far. Here are four key reasons why the event is so important for the promotion: It gives Bellator the chance to compete head to head with the UFC When the sad news of Rafael Lovato Jr.’s brain condition was announced, his decision to relinquish the middleweight title was an unfortunate inevitability.
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Twin title-fight booking shows ‘champ-champ’ narrative is alive and well in Bellator – MMA Junkie