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Bellator confirms Sonnen-Silva, Fedor-Mitrione, 2 title fights for June PPV

Bellator MMA

Bellator MMA has confirmed four blockbuster bouts for its New York debut at Madison Square Garden on June 24.

A light heavyweight grudge match between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva has been announced as the main event for the Bellator: NYC pay-per-view show, with a co-headliner featuring the legendary Fedor Emelianenko versus Matt Mitrione.

Also on the pay-per-view card, lightweight champion Michael Chandler will fight Brent Primus, while Douglas Lima looks for his first welterweight title defense against Bellator newcomer Lorenz Larkin.

Following reports from various media outlets earlier this week, the bouts were confirmed via a Bellator press release Thursday.

Bellator: NYC will be the promotion's second foray into PPV, its first taking place in May 2014. The five-fight card will actually take place after Bellator 180, a two-hour Spike TV broadcast that will air for free earlier in the evening.

Sonnen and Silva have been feuding for years dating back to their time in the UFC, with injuries and drug-related infractions causing their potential meetings to be canceled on three separate occasions. The bout appeared dead in the water when Sonnen retired and Silva received a three-year suspension for refusing to take a drug test in 2014, but they are finally getting the chance to settle their beef.

While Silva has not competed since March 2013, Sonnen made an unsuccessful MMA comeback this past January, losing by first-round submission to Tito Ortiz at Bellator 170.

Emelianenko will be making his Bellator debut and competing in the United States for the first time in almost six years. The 40-year-old Russian is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. He is currently on a five-fight winning streak dating back to 2011 and he'll look to continue that run against Mitrione.

The two were scheduled to fight in February, but Mitrione was removed from the card after being hospitalized due to kidney stones.

Chandler seeks his fourth successful title defense in his second reign as Bellator lightweight champion. He knocked out Patricky Freire last June to win the belt and then held onto it by taking a thrilling five-round split decision win over former UFC champ Benson Henderson.

The 31-year-old Primus only has seven professional fights under his belt, but he owns an undefeated record that includes five Bellator victories. In April, he defeated Gleristone Santos by split decision.

Like Chandler, Lima is in his second reign as champion. He reclaimed the welterweight belt by knocking out rival Andrey Koreshkov in a rematch last November, and now looks to author his first successful title defense. Lima has won seven of his past eight fights.

Larkin is coming off of a first-round TKO-win of Neil Magny, a victory that vaulted him into the top 10 of the UFC's rankings in what would turn out to be his last appearance for the promotion. The 30-year-old Californian recently signed with Bellator and heads into his promotional debut with an 18-5 professional record.

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