Former champ Brandon Halsey meets John Salter at Bellator 156

"The Bull" is back in action.

Brandon Halsey will return to the cage against UFC veteran John Salter at Bellator 156 on June 17 in Fresno, Calif., the promotion announced Tuesday.

Halsey (9-1) had a rough 2015. He was stripped of the Bellator middleweight title when he missed weight before a fight with Kendall Grove in May of last year and then fell via first-round TKO (body kick) to Rafael Carvalho in a bout for the vacant title last October. Halsey, 29, an excellent athlete and very solid talent, had been undefeated up until that point. The Huntington Beach resident won the belt from Alexander Shlemenko in 2014.

Salter (11-3) has not fought since defeating Dustin Jacoby at Bellator 132 in January 2015. He has won three in a row and six of his last seven fights since being cut by the UFC, where he went 1-2. Salter, 31, also competed under the Strikeforce banner in 2011.

Bellator 156 will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Marcos Galvano and former champ Eduardo Dantas. In the co-main event, welterweight knockout artists Douglas Lima and Chidi Njokuani will square off.