David Rickels vs. Guilherme ‘Bomba’ set for Bellator 210 co-main event

Bellator veteran David Rickels will look to avoid the first losing streak of his career when he takes on Guilherme “Bomba” Vasconcelos.

Officials told MMA Fighting that a welterweight bout between Rickels and Vasconcelos will serve as the co-main event of Bellator 210, which takes place at the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., on Nov. 30.

Rickels (19-5, 2 NC) recently saw a three-fight win streak (excluding a knockout-loss to Melvin Guillard that was overturned to a no-contest when Guillard tested positive for a banned substance) end this past May when he moved back up to 170 pounds and suffered a second-round TKO loss to Michael Page at Bellator 200. Prior to that, he’d rattled off wins over Adam Piccolotti, Aaron Derrow, and Bobby Cooper.

The 29-year-old won the Bellator season eight lightweight tournament back in 2013 and challenged Michael Chandler for the division title that same year. Rickels holds a 13-5 (2 NC) record inside the Bellator cage.

Vasconcelos (10-4) is coming off of a first-round submission win over Ivan Castillo at Bellator 192. A cast member of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3, “Bomba” has won three of four Bellator bouts (all by knockout or submission) since joining the promotion in June 2016.

In the Bellator 210 main event, Melvin Manhoef meets Chidi Njokuani in a middleweight bout.