Saad Awad vs. Nate Andrews booked for Bellator 259 on May 21

Nate Andrews will finally make his Bellator debut when he meets a grizzly veteran.

Andrews (16-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is set to face Saad Awad (23-13-1 MMA, 11-10-1 BMMA) on May 21 at Bellator 259 from Mohegan Sun Arena. The fight will take place on the preliminary card.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup informed MMA Junkie of the booking Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Andrews, a former CES lightweight champion, signed with PFL after amassing an impressive nine-fight winning streak, all by finish. He went 1-2 under the PFL banner, failing to reach the lightweight tournament semifinals when he lost to Chris Wade for the second time. He proceeded to sign with Bellator, but his debut was delayed after bookings against Killys Mota and Goiti Yamauchi were canceled.

Awad is currently enduring the roughest stretch of his career, having lost four fights in a row. His past outing against Mandel Nallo at Bellator 249 in October was ruled a no contest after Awad was accidentally struck in the groin in the first round, rendering him unable to continue. Prior to his losing skid, Awad was on a four-fight winning streak with wins over the likes of J.J. Ambrose and Ryan Couture.

With the addition, the Bellator 259 lineup now includes:

• Champ Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith – for women’s featherweight title
• Fabian Edwards vs. Austin Vanderford
• Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Adam Piccolotti
• Brett Johns vs. Matheus Mattos
• Christian Edwards vs. Ben Parrish
• Nate Andrews vs. Saad Awad