Roy Nelson Meets Matt Mitrione in Heavyweight Grand Prix Matchup at Bellator 194 on Feb. 16

LOS ANGELES – The second of four fights making up the first round of the 2018 Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix will take place Friday, February 16 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. and will feature fan-favorite Roy Nelson (23-14) taking on exciting knockout artist Matt Mitrione (12-5).

Tickets for Bellator 194: Nelson vs. Mitrione are available early through a special Bellator Nation pre-sale running Wednesday, December 6 through Thursday, December 7. Tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday, December 8. Tickets can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office, as well as Ticketmaster and Bellator.com.

The event will be broadcast live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and globally on the Bellator Mobile App. Additional contests will be announced in coming weeks.

Fighting out of Las Vegas, Roy Nelson made his Bellator debut earlier this year with a hard-fought victory over Javy Ayala following an eight-year, 19-fight run with UFC that saw him earn wins over Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, “Bigfoot” Silva and Cheick Kongo. “Big Country” also memorably defeated the late Kimbo Slice and later went on to win season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter. With 19 of his 23 career wins coming by way of knockout or submission, the long-time fan-favorite looks to add a championship to his impressive resume.

Matt Mitrione remains poised to make a run at the Bellator heavyweight title following three knockout wins since signing with Bellator in 2016, including a first-round KO of Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator NYC this past June. The Illinois native and standout defensive end at Purdue University earned All-Big Ten honors in 2000 and subsequently earned his way into the NFL where he played six seasons as a member of the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. Mitrione ultimately found his way into MMA where he became a high-level competitor, defeating the likes of the late Kimbo Slice, Derrick Lewis and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Updated Bellator 194: Nelson vs. Mitrione Fight Card:
Heavyweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Roy Nelson (23-14) vs. Matt Mitrione (12-5)