Bellator announces return to Milan in October

Bellator MMA will be heading back to Italy this fall.

The promotion officially announced on Wednesday that the event will take place Oct. 29 at the Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, and will serve as Bellator’s first fan-attended event in Italy since October 2019’s Bellator 230 event.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bellator hosted three empty arena shows at the venue between September and October 2020.

The fight card will be announced in the coming weeks, according to the promotion, and it will air on Showtime in the U.S.

Bellator 230 was headlined by local fighter, and UFC veteran Alessio Sakara — in what turned out to be his final fight with the promotion — as he knocked out Canaan Grigsby in just 23 seconds to send the hometown crowd happy. In addition, current Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov earned a title shot with a second-round submission win over Rafael Carvalho.