Report: Fedor to fight Mitrione in Bellator 180 co-main event

Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Mitrione are giving it another go.

The heavyweights are set to tangle in the co-main event of Bellator 180 - just the second pay-per-view in promotional history - on June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, according to multiple reports.

The pair were initially scheduled to headline Bellator 172 last month, only for Mitrione to be hospitalized hours prior due to kidney stones. The bout marks Emelianenko's Bellator debut and his first fight stateside in over six years.

A once indomitable PRIDE FC heavyweight champ, Emelianenko hung up his gloves in 2012, but returned to competition three years later with a first-round submission of Singh Jaideep at the Rizin World Grand Prix. "The Last Emperor" was last seen taking a controversial decision over Fabio Maldonado in his native Russia last June, and inked a deal with Bellator in the fall of 2016.

Mitrione joined the Scott Coker-led promotion in March after fighting out his UFC contract, and has won each of his Bellator bouts by knockout, the first over Carl Seumanutafa in June, the next over Oli Thompson just three weeks later at Bellator 158.

The New York card will be headlined by a clash between longtime rivals Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva.