Newly inducted UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov's promotion Eagle FC has signed former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, and former Bellator middleweight champ Hector Lombard.
MMA Fighting's Damon Martin was the first to report the news of Lombard's signing, while ESPN's Brett Okamoto was the first to report the news of dos Santos joining the promotion. Nurmagomedov additionally confirmed to ESPN that dos Santos will make his Eagle FC debut against Yorgan De Castro in the main event of a future promotional event on May 20 in the FLXcast Arena in Miami, Florida. The Brazilian MMA heavyweight legend hasn't won a fight since March 2019 and is coming off of a second-round TKO loss to former interim UFC heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane, back at UFC 256 in his last Octagon appearance. De Castro meanwhile is 2-0 since being released by the UFC last April and is coming off of a 64-second submission win via a guillotine choke against Shaun Asher at Eagle FC 44 in his promotional debut.
Lombard will also make his Eagle FC debut on that same May 20 event and face former UFC veteran Thiago Silva in the night's co-main event. The former Bellator champ's last MMA fight was back in September 2018 at UFC Fight Night 137 where he lost to Thales Leites via a unanimous decision. His last fight, however, came back in the main event of BKFC 22 last November where he also lost via a unanimous decision to Lorenzo Hood in a cruiserweight title bout. Silva on the other hand hasn't fought since May 2019 at KSW 49 where he dropped a unanimous decision to Martin Zawada. He went 7-3-2 in his ten Octagon appearances during his run with the UFC from May 2007 to October 2013.
FIGHT NIGHT IS FINALLY HERE --@HectorLombard vs Lorenzo Hunt for all the marbles!
— Bare Knuckle FC (@bareknucklefc) November 12, 2021
[ #BKFC22 Prelims Start time: 8pm ET LIVE on Youtube - Main Card 9pm ET LIVE on #BKTVApp ] https://t.co/LJX5urGkRW pic.twitter.com/WfxTTpfpHr
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