Josh Barnett Debut Headlines Bellator’s Salute The Troops Event

Josh Barnett‘s long-awaited promotional debut will headline Bellator’s Salute The Troops event next month.

Barnett will meet fellow debuting UFC veteran Ronny Markes in a heavyweight contest in the main event. The show is set to take place December 20 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Barnett signed with Bellator in April and will be making his return to the sport for the first time since September 2016 when he submitted Andrei Arlovski. As for Markes, he last competed at PFL 3 in June where he defeated Sigi Pesaleli via TKO. He is a five-fight veteran of the UFC and notably fought names like Yoel Romero and Thiago Santos.

It will be the second year that Bellator teams up with United Service Organizations to pay tribute to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

The event takes place one day before Bellator Hawaii which is headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Kate Jackson. Competing in the co-main event of that card is a Bellator featherweight grand prix quarterfinal matchup as AJ McKee collides with Derek Campos.

As for the Salute The Troops event, no other fights are announced as of yet. However, more fight announcements can be expected in the coming weeks.

What do you think of the fight?