Keri Melendez Set for Second MMA Bout, Meets Tiani Valle at Bellator 201

Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez, the wife of UFC and Strikeforce veteran Gilbert Melendez, will make her second professional MMA appearance later this month.

Melendez will lock horns with Tiani Valle in a strawweight bout at Bellator 201 on June 29. Promotion officials announced the pairing on Monday. Bellator 201 takes place at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., and is headlined by a women’s flyweight title bout pitting Ilima-Lei Macfarlane against Alejandra Lara.

Melendez hasn’t fought in the cage since November 2016, when she scored a technical knockout of Sheila Padilla 47 seconds into the opening stanza at Bellator 165. The 34-year-old Skrap Pack representative was supposed to compete at Bellator NYC last June but withdrew from the card due to injury.

Valle, meanwhile, is coming off a similar hiatus. Her MMA debut came on Sept. 24, 2016, when she outpointed Sam Hughes at X-1 44 “The Return.”

This month, @KeriMelendez415 returns to the cage in a strawweight matchup vs Tiani Valle. #Bellator201
Download the #Bellator app to watch LIVE & FREE on Friday, June 29th >> https://t.co/Y4hYPLLQVd pic.twitter.com/JZgEcnUFuI

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 4, 2018