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Rafael Carvalho, Gegard Mousasi to fight for Bellator title in May

Bellator MMA middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho will seek his most high-profile title defense to date, when he takes on Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 200 on May 25.

Bellator officials announced the 185-pound title fight on Monday. The Bellator 200 event will take place at SSE Arena, Wembley in London.

"Bellator continues to place a huge emphasis on its expansion into markets around the globe and creating a strong presence in the U.K. is a very important part of that," Bellator president Scott Coker said in a released statement.

In addition to the title bout, Bellator also announced a welterweight matchup between England's Michael Page (12-0) and David Rickels (19-4).

Mousasi (43-6-2) has been a shoo-in middleweight title challenger since he signed with Bellator last year. The former UFC and Strikeforce veteran is the No. 5 middleweight in the world, according to ESPN's rankings.

The Dutch middleweight earned a narrow decision win against Alexander Shlemenko in his promotional debut in October.

Carvalho (15-1) has flown widely under the radar, despite his status as Bellator's official titleholder.

The 31-year-old Brazilian won the vacant belt in 2015 and has recorded three successful title defenses.