Bellator is set for back-to-back nights of fights at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, with each card headlined by a rematch. Bellator 231 on Oct. 25 will see Roy Nelson and Frank Mir in a heavyweight main event while Bellator 232's Oct. 26 card features Rory MacDonald taking on Douglas Lima in the finals of the Welterweight Grand Prix tournament.
Mir (18-13) handled Nelson (23-17) with relative ease in their first meeting at UFC 130 in May 2011. Mir's career has been on a significant downward trajectory, with a record of 3-8 since that first meeting. Five of those losses have come by stoppage, including his two trips to the Bellator cage, a 48-second TKO loss to Fedor Emelianenko and a second-round stoppage when Mir tapped to the strikes of Javy Ayala.
Nelson has not experienced much more success than Mir since that first bout, compiling an 8-11 record over the past eight years. In his first fight after losing to Mir, Nelson defeated Mirko Cro Cop in October 2011. In his most recent fight this February, Nelson dropped a decision against Cro Cop to run his losing skid to three.
MacDonald (20-4) won the Bellator welterweight title from Lima (29-7) at Bellator 192 in January 2018. He attempted to jump up in weight and capture the middleweight title eight months later, but was stopped by Gegard Mousasi in the second round of their Bellator 206 clash. He then entered the Welterweight Grand Prix with the terms he would defend his title every fight in the tournament.
MacDonald battled Jon Fitch to a draw in the first round of the tournament, but still advanced. He then earned a decision win over Neiman Gracie in the semifinals.
Lima rebounded from the title loss to MacDonald by submitting Andrey Koreshkov in the quarterfinals before becoming the first man to defeat Michael Page, scoring a second-round knockout to advance to the finals and the championship rematch.
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