The vacant lightweight title will be on the line in the co-main event of Bellator 157 on June 24 as former Bellator champion Michael Chandler will meet Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in a rematch of their 2011 bout that Chandler won by decision.
The fight booking was announced by Bellator on Saturday night during the Bellator 154 broadcast on Spike.
Bellator 157: Dynamite 2 will come from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri and will be headlined by a catchweight bout of 215 pounds as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson returns to the promotion to meet Satoshi Ishii.
Chandler (14-3) has won back to back fights and is coming off a TKO victory against David Rickels at Bellator 145 last year. His last two victories have come by stoppage and this will be his first title fight since losing back to back fights against Will Brooks. Pitbull (16-7) has also won back to back fights and he is coming off a decision victory against Kevin Souza at Bellator 152. He is 6-2 in his last eight fights and three of those wins have come by TKO/KO.
The current Bellator 157: Dynamite 2 fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike TV – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (36-11) vs. Satoshi Ishii (14-5-1)
Michael Chandler (14-3) vs. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (16-7)
Matt Mitrione (9-5) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (10-6)
Preliminary Card: (Bellator.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Kevin Engel (5-0) vs. Chel Erwin-Davis (3-1)
Jordan Howard (9-3) vs Justin Robbins (14-17-1)
Joaquin Buckley (5-0) vs Chris Heatherly (9-3-1)
Michelle Royer (1-0) vs Katy Collins (3-1)
Brad Jones (5-4) vs Tyler Claussen (2-0)
Jason Christeson (1-0) vs Jarrod Thomas (0-0)
Lee Burns (2-0) vs. Byron Stevens (0-0)
Steven Mann (11-4) vs. Mike Estus (7-4)
Rashard Lovelace (3-0) vs. Garret Mueller (2-1)
Nikki Smith (1-0) vs. Ashley Cummins (3-3)
Elmir Kulosman (3-0) vs. Darryl Cobb (2-1)
Tara Walker (4-3-1) vs. Mimi Kutzin (3-2)