Liz Carmouche is set to welcome a former Invicta FC champion to Bellator.
The former UFC title challenger takes on Vanessa Porto in a flyweight contest at Bellator 256 on April 9 in Uncasville, Conn. MMA Junkie on Monday confirmed the report following an initial report by Fansided MMA.
Carmouche (14-7 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) looks to follow up on a third-round submission win over DeAnna Bennett back in September, which marked her debut with Bellator. Prior to that, the 37-year-old fighter had lost a unanimous decision in a UFC women’s flyweight title fight against champion Valentina Shevchenko.
On the other hand, Porto (22-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) makes her promotional debut after a year-and-a-half of inactivity. The Brazilian last fought in November 2019 at Invicta FC 38, where she outpointed Karina Rodriguez in a unanimous decision. She’s currently on a four-fight winning streak, which includes a bout where she captured the Invicta FC flyweight title. Porto signed with Bellator in late 2020.
With the addition, the Bellator 256 lineup now includes:
- Champ Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida – for light heavyweight title; light heavyweight tournament opening round
- Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov – light heavyweight tournament opening round
- Diana Avsaragova vs. Tara Graff
- Nainoa Dung vs. Izzy William
- Jaylon Bates vs. Jeffrey Glossner
- Nathan Ghareeb vs. Cody Law
- Jessica Borga vs. Talita Nogueira
- Olivia Parker vs. Cat Zingano
- Liz Carmouche vs. Vanessa Porto
