Brazilian Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire will bid to become a three-weight Bellator champion when he faces Sergio Pettis on 16 June in Chicago.
No fighter in Bellator or the UFC has won titles at three different weights.
Pettis, 29, is undefeated in Bellator but has been sidelined with injury since December 2021.
In the main event of Bellator 297, Vadim Nemkov defends his light-heavyweight title against Sergio Romero.
Bellator 297 will be live on BBC iPlayer on Friday, 16 June.
Freire is the current featherweight champion and has previously won the championship belt at lightweight, a feat he achieved in 2019 when he moved up in weight to upset then champion Michael Chandler.
The 35-year-old has never competed at bantamweight as a professional and has just five losses in 40 fights.
Pettis, a former UFC contender, is unbeaten in four appearances in Bellator since leaving the UFC in 2019 and has 22 wins and five losses in his career.
The American had to sit out Bellator’s current bantamweight grand prix because of an injury.
That tournament concludes in April when interim champion Raufeon Stots fights Patrick Mix in Hawaii.
Bellator is live on BBC iPlayer on Friday when Northern Ireland’s Leah McCourt takes on Cat Zingano in California.
