Vladimir Matyushenko will be making his Bellator debut next month when he headlines Bellator 99 against former light heavyweight champion Christian M'Pumbu. That fight is scheduled for September 13th on Spike TV, but in a strange twist, Matyushenko appears to have another fight lined up two months later. MMA Diehards reported earlier this week that Tom DeBlass is lined up to fight Matyushenko on November 15th at Bellator 108. DeBlass retweeted the original article from Diehards and then Danny Liguori, head of Alliance Sports Reps (who DeBlass is affiliated with), tweeted this:
That would mean two fights for the 42-year-old Matyushenko over the course of two months, and neither one of them is a tournament bout. Bellator recently did this with lightweight Will Brooks, who fought Cris Leyva at Bellator 97 but was additionally placed in the upcoming lightweight tournament against John Alessio in September. Had Brooks lost to Leyva he would've faced a two-fight losing streak heading into the Alessio fight.
Matyushenko (26-7) hasn't fought twice in two months since 2007, when he competed 5 times on his way to winning the IFL light heavyweight title.
As for DeBlass, he won his Bellator debut by TKO over Carlos Brooks at Bellator 95. The New Jersey native had retired from MMA after going 0-2 in the UFC, but decided to return to fighting this year and if he is indeed fighting Matyushenko, that fight will be in New Jersey.
Bloody Elbow has reached out to Bellator for comment and are awaiting their response to this bizarre decision making.
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