Bellator MMA middleweight king Gegard
Mousasi is set to begin his second reign as champion.
The news on Friday first came from
MMA Junkie, who reported that Mousasi (47-7-2) will be
defending his 185-pound belt against John Salter
(18-4) on Aug. 13. The newly announced event titled
Bellator 264 will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Conn., and no other matches have been released yet. The
pairing has since been confirmed by
other outlets.
Mousasi reclaimed the middleweight throne in October 2020, when he
overwhelmed welterweight champ Douglas
Lima and thwarted his foe’s intentions of becoming a
simultaneous two-division champion. Mousasi held the strap in 2018,
and lost it in 2019 by a majority verdict to Rafael
Lovato Jr. A split decision win over Lyoto
Machida led to the vacant title fight with Lima, after Lovato
Jr. surrendered the crown due to health issues. “The Dreamcatcher”
maintains a high stoppage rate of 81 percent throughout his career
that dates back to 2003.
Salter hoists an even higher finish rate (94 percent) than his
opponent, finishing all but one of his opponents in victory. Since
a 2018 submission loss to Lovato Jr., Salter has rattled off a trio
of wins over Chidi
Njokuani, Costello
van Steenis and Andrew
Kapel to earn his very first crack at Bellator gold. In each of
their last 11 bouts, both men have suffered just one defeat, with
the two falling short to Lovato Jr.