Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho will make his fourth title defence against Gegard Mousasi in the main event at Bellator 200 on Friday 25th May at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London. The middleweight title bout was promoted to the main event after an injury forced Mirko Cro Cop to withdraw from his bout with Roy Nelson.
Rafael Carvalho (15-1) is currently tied with former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko for the most middleweight title defences in Bellator history. The Brazilian has successfully defended his title three times since capturing the title in 2015. Carvalho was last seen in the cage at Bellator 190, where he scored a first round knock out against Alessio Sakara. The champion also picked up a pair of wins against Dutch kickboxer Melvin Manhoef. Gegard Mousasi (43–6–2) will come into this bout riding a six-fight winning streak. Mousasi is one of the most decorated fighters on the Bellator roster, having held titles in the Strikeforce, DREAM and Cage Warriors promotions. Gegard defeated Alexander Shlemenko via Unanimous in his Bellator debut last October.
Bellator 200: Best Of – Michael “Venom” Page
The Preliminary Card
- BAMMA featherweight champion Daniel Crawford makes his Bellator debut against Pedro Carvalho. Crawford knocked out Damien Lapilus in spectacular fashion to capture the title at BAMMA 31.
- Saul Rogers will finally get his shot on the big stage when he makes his Bellator debut on Friday night. Rogers made it to The Ultimate Fighter 22 finale against Artem Lobov but was pulled out due to problems with his visa application. Saul is coming into his bout on a six-fight winning streak.
- Jahreau “The Nightmare” Shephard makes his Bellator debut against Marcin Zywica. The Savage Squad representative made his professional debut against James Reedman at BAMMA 34 in March. The hard-hitting Shephard went 4-0 in his amateur career, picking up wins in the Killacam, WCMMA and UCMMA promotions.
Bellator 200 Main Card
Middleweight: Rafael Carvalho (c) vs. Gegard Mousasi
Welterweight: Michael Page vs. David Rickels
Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis vs. Linton Vassell
Catchweight: Aaron Chalmers vs. Ash Griffiths
Bellator 200 Preliminary Card
Women’s Flyweight: Anastasia Yankova vs. Kate Jackson
Middleweight: Anatoly Tokov vs. Vladimir Filipovic
Featherweight: Pedro Carvalho vs. Daniel Crawford
Lightweight: Ryan Scope vs. Martyn Harris
Middleweight: Mike Shipman vs. Carl Noon
Middleweight: Charlie Ward vs. Louis King
Featherweight: Saul Rogers vs. Jeremy Petley
Middleweight: Kevin Fryer vs. Costello Van Steenis
Lightweight: Charlie Leary vs. Tom Green
Welterweight: Kent Kauppinen vs. Walter Gahadza
Welterweight: Jahreau Shephard vs. Marcin Zywica
Featherweight: Mike Ekundayo vs. Tom Mearns
Flyweight: Amir Albazi vs. Iurie Bejenari
