This was officially announced by representatives of the Russian league, publishing a poster of the fight.
Last year, 33-year-old Anatoly Tokov made an unsuccessful attempt to take the Bellator middleweight championship belt from Johnny Eblin, losing to the American by unanimous decision over five rounds, while 37-year-old Magomed Ismailov had his last mixed martial arts bout in December 2022, winning by unanimous decision over Alexander Shlemenko.
“To the audience I want to say – if I enter the cage, I fight,” Ismailov commented on the fight announcement. “There will be no long waits, so, let them not blink.”
The bout between the Russian middleweights will be a rematch – their first fight took place almost eleven years ago under the M-1 Global banner and ended with Tokov winning by kimura in the first round.