Former Bellator middleweight champion [autotag]Rafael Carvalho[/autotag] is back with the promotion – at least for one more fight.
Carvalho, who was among 30 fighters to part with Bellator late last year, will return this Friday against [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] at Bellator 258 in Uncasville, Conn. Larkin’s original opponent, Costello van Steenis, withdrew from their bout earlier this week.
Bellator announced the fight Saturday on social media. A promotion official told MMA Junkie that Carvalho’s return is “a one-off for now.” It’s unclear how the Bellator 258 booking will affect LFA’s plans. On Friday, Carvalho was announced to headline LFA 107 one week later on May 14. A message to LFA CEO Ed Soares was not immediately returned.
Carvalho, 34, won Bellator’s 185-pound title in October 2015 with a TKO of Brandon Halsey. Carvalho (16-5 MMA, 7-4 BMMA) went on to defend it three times – part of an overall 15-fight winning streak – before losing to Gegard Mousasi by first-round TKO in May 2018 at Bellator 200. That kickstarted a downswing for Carvalho, who’s dropped four of his past five, which resulted in his release from Bellator.
But now Carvalho is back to take on Larkin. A former Bellator welterweight title challenger, Larkin (22-7 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) is moving up to middleweight for the first time in his promotional tenure. He currently rides a four-fight winning streak but hasn’t competed since December 2019.
The latest Bellator 258 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
- Champ Juan Archuleta vs. Sergio Pettis – for bantamweight title
- Anthony Johnson vs. Yoel Romero – light heavyweight grand prix quarterfinal
- Patricky Freire vs. Peter Queally
- Derek Anderson vs. Michael Page
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
- Rafael Carvalho vs. Lorenz Larkin
- Josh Hill vs. Raufeon Stots
- Omar Hussein vs. Logan Storley
- Weber Almeida vs. Johnny Soto
- Johnny Campbell vs. Henry Corrales
- Johnny Eblen vs. Daniel Madrid
- Erik Perez vs. Blaine Shutt
- Patchy Mix vs. Albert Morales
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=none image=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]