The new Bellator middleweight champion will be crowned soon after becoming vacant this week. Bellator President Scott Coker announced on Twitter on Tuesday, that a fight between Douglas Lima vs Gegard Mousasi is set for the vacant middleweight championship at Bellator 243 on May 9. Also on the card will be Ryan Bader defending his Bellator light heavyweight championship against Vadim Nemkov.
Since we can’t have a cross-promotional superfight I’ll give you another.
🚨 On May 9, @Mousasi_MMA vs. @PhenomLima for the vacant @BellatorMMA middleweight world championship.
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker)
This fight is made after the unfortunate news that former middleweight champion Rafael Lovato Jr. had to vacate the championship due to being diagnosed with cavernoma. Lovato Jr. beat Mousasi by majority decision for the middleweight championship at Bellator 223 on June 22, 2019. When Lovato Jr. announced that he had cavernoma and that it was possible he would be vacating the championship, Lima announced that he was willing to move up to fight for the middleweight championship against Mousasi.