Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione Set For Bellator 180

Bellator MMA is planning another big fight for their next pay-per-view event, which would be the second PPV event in the promotion’s history as MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko will attempt to make his promotional debut yet again against Matt Mitrione. This time it’s set for a much bigger stage as the two fighters are slated to meet in the co-main event of Bellator 180. The news was first reported by nypost.com.

Emelianenko (36-4) and Mitrione (11-5) were first scheduled to meet in February’s Bellator 172 headliner in San Jose, but the fight fell apart just hours before the event. The fight was called off due to Mitrione being hospitalized with kidney stones. There were options on the table for other fighters to step in on short notice and fight the MMA legend such as Chael Sonnen but nothing materialized. Although there were talks of booking Emelianenko against a different opponent, Bellator decided to try and get the fight made with Mitrione once more.

It has already been announced that a grudge match between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva will headline this event. No other fights for Bellator 180 have been announced yet.

Bellator 180 takes place on June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York, and the main card airs on pay-per-view. It’s likely that part of the prelims will air on Spike with the rest of the prelims airing online just like they did at Bellator 120, which was the first PPV event in the promotion’s history.