Lyoto Machida will look to snap his losing skid when he returns to middleweight.
Machida (26-11 MMA, 2-3 BMMA) meets ranked contender Fabian Edwards (9-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) at Bellator London on May 13, promotion officials announced Wednesday.
🔒 @lyotomachidafw vs. @fabianedwards24 is 𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡.#BellatorLondon just gained another all-star bout. The action at the @OVOArena will be one for the history books!
🗓 May 13th | 📺 @BBCThree | 🎟s https://t.co/BSY8ceR5Se pic.twitter.com/a0qdUz0zEM
— Bellator Europe (@Bellator_Europe) February 16, 2022
After picking up wins over Rafael Carvalho and Chael Sonnen to kick off his Bellator tenure, former UFC light heavyweight champion Machida has dropped three straight to Gegard Mousasi, Phil Davis, and most recently Ryan Bader in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix last April.
Meanwhile, Edwards also will look to get back on track. The 28-year-old Birmingham, England native won his first eight professional bouts before losing back-to-back decisions to Costello van Steenis and Austin Vanderford. Edwards was scheduled to face Marian Dimitrov at Bellator 275 in Dublin, but the Feb. 25 bout was scrapped from the card.
With the addition, the Bellator London lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)
- Champ Yaroslav Amosov vs. Michael Page – for welterweight title
- Jason Jackson vs. Douglas Lima
- Fabian Edwards vs. Lyoto Machida
- Denise Kielholtz vs. Kana Watanabe
- Simon Biyong vs. Luke Trainer
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 12:30 p.m. ET)
- Daniel Weichel vs. Robert Whiteford
- Alfie Davis vs. Tim Wilde
- Kate Jackson vs. Elina Kallionidou
