Bellator 282: Gegard Mousasi vs. Johnny Eblen Middleweight title fight set for June 24

A little more than one month removed from his dominant first round technical knockout win over Austin Vanderford at Bellator 275 (see it again here), in Dublin, Ireland, Bellator MMA Middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi, has his next title defense lined up. “Dreamcatcher” is set to defend his title against Johnny Eblen at the upcoming Bellator 282 event, which is set to go down on Fri., June 24, 2022, inside Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Mousasi is currently on a four-fight win streak, which includes successful back-to-back title defenses against John Salter and the aforementioned Vanderford. Along the way, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 185-pound contender also picked up wins over Lyoto Machida and former Bellator Welterweight champion, Douglas Lima.

Eblen, meanwhile, is undefeated (11-0), winning all seven of his fights inside the Bellator cage. In his last outing, he took out the aforementioned Salter, securing his spot as the No. 1-ranked contender.

Bellator 282 will also feature two quarterfinal fights for the Bantamweight Grand Prix. As a result of a recent shuffling of the deck due to Sergio Pettis’ withdrawal from the tournament with an injury and Juan Archuleta's subsequent assignment to step in and face Raufeon Stots at Bellator 279, a pair of wild card fights have been added to Bellator 278 on April 22.

Indeed, Enrique Barzola will take on Josh Hill, while Jornel Lugo takes on Danny Sabatello in Hawaii. The winner of Barzola vs. Hill will face off against Magomed Magomedov, while Leandro Higo takes on the Barzola vs. Hill winner, both at Bellator 282.

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