Phil Davis and Ryan Bader will square off for the light heavyweight belt in the main event of Bellator 180 on June 24 in New York City, it was announced Tuesday.
Bellator 180, to be televised by SPIKE, immediately leads into the "Bellator: NYC" pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden. The featured events of the pay-per-view card has Chael Sonnen (28-15-1) facing Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1), and Fedor Emelianenko (36-4) vs. Matt Mitrione (11-5).
The five-round Bellator 180 fight pits Davis (17-3, 1 NC), the defending champion, against the promotion's newest free-agent acquisition, Bader (22-5), who spent nearly his entire career with the UFC before signing in March with Bellator.
The two fought once before, with Bader defeating Davis by split decision in January 2015.
Bader originally was supposed to fight Muhammed Lawal, but "King Mo" was forced to withdraw due to injury. It's great news for Davis, who just last week told ESPN that he "absolutely" wanted to avenge his loss to Bader.
Another fight added to the card has undefeated welterweight Neiman Gracie (5-0) taking on Dave Marfone (5-2).
