Chael Sonnen vs Lyoto Machida Is On For June 14th
Bellator is making their New York return, June 14th, 2019, and it’s first bout has been confirmed. As previously announced, Chael Sonnen will face off against Lyoto Machida.
The two former UFC fighters have not faced each other before, slightly missing each other on weight classes. Sonnen fought at Middleweight for the majority of his UFC tenure, however ending at Light Heavyweight. Lyoto Machida did the opposite, winning the Light Heavyweight belt, before challenging for the Middleweight title, and ending his UFC run there.
It was previously announced that the two were looking to face each other, although no date or venue was announced. Now it has been confirmed that the two will fight in June, at Madison Square Garden. Currently, no other bout has been announced for that card.
The Bad Guy battles The Dragon at MSG on June 14 @ChaelSonnen vs. @lyotomachidafw booked by @BellatorMMA (sources tell @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/KVR0KZkgJv
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 4, 2019
Since signing to Bellator, Lyoto Machida has won a split decision over Rafael Carvalho. Chael Sonnen on the other hand, has had a mixed bag of results since his signing to the company. He traded a win and loss, before entering the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. There, he won against Rampage Jackson, before losing to Fedor Emelianenko in the semi-finals.
This will be Bellator’s first event in New York, since Bellator 208. This event took place in Uniondale, and was headlined by the aforementioned bout between Chael Sonnen and Fedor. Chael also fought in the promotion’s only other event at MSG, in a winning bid against Wanderlei Silva in 2017.
Stay tuned to MiddleEasy for more bout announcements for this Bellator NYC event.
