Former middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho will square off against Chidi Njokuani at Bellator 224 on July 12.
Sherdog.com confirmed the booking on Monday with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. Bellator 224 takes place at Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and will feature a women’s featherweight title clash between Julia Budd and Olga Rubin.
After relinquishing the middleweight crown to Gegard Mousasi in a first-round TKO defeat at Bellator 200, Carvalho dropped a split verdict to former UFC light heavyweight titlist Lyoto Machida in his most recent outing at Bellator 213. Prior to those setbacks, the 32-year-old Rio de Janeiro native had won 15 consecutive bouts — including six in Bellator.
Njokuani, meanwhile, has lost two of his last three appearances within the California-based promotion, sandwiching a decision win over Hisaki Kato between a TKO loss to Andrey Koreshkov and a submission defeat against John Salter. The 30-year-old Las Vegas resident began his Bellator tenure with four consecutive triumphs.