Gegard Mousasi vs. Douglas Lima middleweight title bout rebooked for Bellator 250

After a delay, Bellator’s vacant middleweight title finally will be on the line next month – and a current champion will try for a second belt.

Former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (46-7-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) takes on welterweight champ Douglas Lima (32-7 MMA, 14-3 BMMA) for the vacant 185-pound title in the Bellator 250 main event, the promotion announced Friday.

Bellator 250 takes place Oct. 29, a Thursday, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card will air on the promotion’s new CBS Sports Network broadcast home.

The two were supposed to fight for the belt vacated by Rafael Lovato Jr. on May 9, but COVID-19 cancellations scrapped that fight till now.

Mousasi beat Rafael Carvalho to win the middleweight title in May 2018, then defended it against Rory MacDonald. But in June 2019, he lost the belt to Lovato. In September 2019, Mousasi bounced back with a split decision win over Lyoto Machida to get back into the mix.

Lima won the welterweight title in dominant fashion at Bellator 232 in October 2019 against MacDonald, whom he had lost to in a title challenge at Bellator 192 in January 2018. Prior to that, he beat Andrey Koreshkov and Michael Page, both by stoppage, in Bellator’s welterweight grand prix to get the shot at MacDonald.