Bellator MMA returns to Madison Square Garden on Friday, June 14 for Bellator 222. Originally, in the main event, Chael Sonnen was set to take on Lyoto Machida, however, according to MMA Junkie, that will no longer be the main event.
The welterweight title fight between Rory MacDonald taking on Neiman Gracie was slated to be the co-main even but will now headline the card.
MacDonald is coming off of a controversial draw to Jon Fitch in the opening round of the welterweight grand prix. Before that, the Canadian lost to Gegard Mousasi for the middleweight title as he was looking to become the champion. In Bellator, he has beaten Paul Daley and then defeated Douglas Lima to win the belt.
Gracie, meanwhile, is coming off of a submission win over Ed Ruth in the opening round. The Brazilian is 9-0 as a pro with eight wins coming by submission.
For Sonnen and Machida, the bout was hyped as a legend fight as Sonnen is coming off of a knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko. Machida, on the other hand, had his first Bellator win in his last fight when he beat the former champ, Rafael Carvalho.
Bellator 222 main card now looks like:
MacDonald vs. Gracie — welterweight title fight
Sonnen vs. Machida — light heavyweight bout
Caldwell vs. Horiguchi — bantamweight title fight
Danis vs. Humphrey — catchweight bout
