Bellator MMA is bolstering its lineup in a
hurry for its return to Paris in May.
According to a release from the organization on Thursday, two
additional matches have been added to the
Bellator Paris billing. This event will be held at the Accor
Arena in May 12, with a non-title main event pitting Gegard
Mousasi (49-8-2) against Fabian
Edwards (11-2) in the middleweight division. The co-headliner
will see one branch of the lightweight grand prix play out as well,
as Sidney
Outlaw (16-5) squares off against France’s Mansour
Barnaoui (20-4). The two newly announced fights include a
185-pound pairing on the main card, and a preliminary contest at
205 pounds.
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Having lost his last four, former welterweight kingpin Douglas
Lima (32-11) will return to middleweight to test himself
against Costello
van Steenis (14-2). Lima made his 185-pound debut in 2020, when
he attempted to become a two-division champ, only to get staved off
by Mousasi. That loss put an end to a three-fight win streak that
included the dramatic conclusion of the trilogy against Andrey
Koreshkov, a knockout of rival Michael
Page and a decision win over Rory
MacDonald to claim the title again. This current skid has seen
him drop decisions to the aforementioned Mousasi, Yaroslav
Amosov, Page in a rematch and Jason
Jackson, with the Amosov match where he surrendered his
belt.
Since joining Bellator in 2017, van Steenis has only hit one speed
bump along the way. His first four appearances ended in his favor,
with three knockouts to his credit including a drubbing of Mike
Shipman in 2019. A potential title eliminator against John Salter
accounts for his only defeat in seven Bellator outings, as he has
since bounced back with a decision over Edwards and a D’Arce choke
of Kamil
Oniszczuk in 2022.
The light heavyweight pairing comes between
Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros (7-4, 1 NC) and Simon
Biyong (9-2), with the two men coming in with drastically
different momentum behind them. Barros has lost his last two, with
a knockout in 2021 to the late Anthony
Johnson followed by a third-round submission defeat to Alex
Polizzi to place him on his first career losing streak. “Gugu”
and his 100% finish rate will toe the line against Italy’s Biyong,
who had a successful 2022 campaign by rattling off wins over
Luke
Trainer and Dragos
Zubco. In the former victory, “Hemle” defused a rising
undefeated prospect in Trainer, and earned only his second career
win on the scorecards. Six of Biyong’s last seven wins have come by
stoppage.