Brett Johns Makes Bellator Debut Against Matheus Mattos at May 21 Event

One of the high-profile free agent acquisitions for Bellator MMA has his debut fight set.

MMA DNA first announced on Wednesday that Brett Johns (17-2) will be setting foot in the Bellator cage for the first time against fellow bantamweight Matheus Mattos (12-2-1). The two will toe the line at an upcoming Bellator event on May 21, which will likely be titled Bellator 259. The card will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., like its other events inside the “Fightsphere” bubble. A promotion official was unable to confirm the pairing to Sherdog on Thursday, but Johns did on his Twitter page.

Johns left the Ultimate Fighting Championship on a two-fight win streak with victories over Tony Gravely and Montel Jackson in 2020. “The Pikey” competed seven times inside the Octagon, only dropping decisions to top-10 talents Aljamain Sterling and Pedro Munhoz in 2018 along the way. The Welshmen completed his UFC contract and decided to sign with Bellator a few months later.

Mattos made his organizational debut in December, dropping a decision to Magomed Magomedov where he was outgrappled for three rounds in the Bellator 254 co-main event. The Brazilian made his way up with the ranks with four finishes in Jungle Fight, which led to his signing with defunct organization Absolute Championship Berkut. Two decision wins bookending a knockout loss to current UFC champ Petr Yan led to his signing with Bellator. Unlike his opponent, “Adamas” mains a very high finish rate, stopping 83 percent of his foes in victory.