Bellator 284 lineup in South Dakota takes shape with DeAnna Bennett vs. Justine Kish rematch

The lineup for Bellator’s return to South Dakota continues to take shape with the addition of a women’s flyweight rematch.

DeAnna Bennett (12-7-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) is set to take on Justine Kish (8-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) on the preliminary card at Bellator 284, promotion officials announced Tuesday. Bellator 284 takes place Aug. 12 at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

In addition, Said Sowma (8-3 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) takes on Gokhan Saricam (7-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) in a fight between two fighters in Bellator’s top 10 heavyweight rankings; Bailey Schoenfelder (2-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) meets Mark Currier (1-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at heavyweight; and at bantamweight, Josh Hill (21-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) takes on Matheus Mattos (13-2-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), and Mitchell McKee (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) fights Tony Ortega (5-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

Bellator also made official the previously reported middleweight fight between recent title challenger Austin Vanderford (11-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) and Anthony Adams (9-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and the pro debut of middleweight wrestling standout Pat Downey (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) vs. Jeff Souder (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

Bennett and Kish fought in February at Bellator 274 in Connecticut, where Bennett won a lopsided unanimous decision that included a pair of 30-26 scores. The loss for Kish was her third straight and fifth in six fights and came in her Bellator debut after a rough 1-4 stretch in the UFC.

But two months later, Kish traveled to Honolulu and upset home betting favorite and fan darling former champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane with a unanimous decision to jump right onto the Bellator radar. She quickly entered the promotion’s top 10 rankings at No. 8 and now has a shot at redemption against No. 6 Bennett, who will fight Kish for the second straight time.

With the additions, the Bellator 284 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)

• Neiman Gracie vs. Goiti Yamauchi
• Valentin Moldavsky vs. Steve Mowry
• Bruna Ellen vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)

• Anthony Adams vs. Austin Vanderford
• Gokhan Saricam vs. Said Sowma
• Josh Hill vs. Matheus Mattos
• DeAnna Bennett vs. Justine Kish
• Sarvadzhon Khamidov vs. Jared Scoggins
• Pat Downey vs. Jeff Souder
• Mark Currier vs. Bailey Schoenfelder
• Mitchell McKee vs. Tony Ortega

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 284.