Former Bellator Interim Bantamweight Champion Raufeon Stots will be back in action for the first time in 2024 when he faces Marcos Breno.
The pair will meet in the co-main event of the promotion's Bellator Champions Series San Diego on September 7, at the Pechanga Arena.
The card will see the undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov take on Alexander Shabliy in an all Russian main event.
Stots will return to the Bellator cage on the back of a busy few years. 'Supa' entered the 2022 Bantamweight Grand Prix and was scheduled to face the then champion Sergio Pettis in the opening round. After Pettis withdrew through injury, Stots ended up facing Juan Archuleta for the Interim Bantamweight Title. With a third round stoppage. Stots claimed the title in sixth bout with the promotion.
In the semi-finals, he then defeated Danny Sabatello which led to a final against the formidable Patchy Mix.
Mix handed Stots his first loss with the promotion in the very first round of their contest with a huge knee to the head.
Since then, Stots has only fought once, against Sabatello, and once again got the decision win against 'The Italian Gangster'.
Sabatello is a mutual opponent between the two, but Breno was defeated by the American in the second round of their contest at Bellator 294.
Prior to that, Breno had only pulled on the Bellator gloves once, when he scored a unanimous decision win against Josh Hill at Bellator 284.
Although Stots is vastly more experienced in the Bellator cage, the 35-year-old will know that he needs a solid win against the 26-year-old prospect to stand any chance of making another run at the 135lbs title.
For Breno, the bout poses as his biggest opportunity yet to claim a huge name on the Bellator scene and make a huge statement to the rest of the Bantamweight division.
