Bellator hits New York with big pay-per-view show June 24 throwing down challenge to UFC

Bellator is stepping up to Madison Square Garden and back onto pay-per-view. The mixed martial arts promotion will stage a stacked card in New York City on June 24.

Bellator 180 will be headlined by Chael Sonnen’s long-awaited rivalry bout with Wanderlei Silva. Additional fights will be announced soon for several of the promotion’s top talents, including a handful of its newly-signed free agents.

Bellator will broadcast on pay-per-view for only the second time in promotional history, signalling another step in its growth as a rival for the industry-leading UFC. Bellator staged its only previous pay-per-view event in May 2014, shortly before CEO Scott Coker took over the promotion.

“We always said that when we come to New York, we’ll bring the biggest and the best fight card we’ve ever had in the history of this company,” Coker said. “We’re putting it together, and our roster is robust enough that we feel like it’s time to get into the pay-per-view business, so here we go.”

After New York lifted its long-standing restrictions on the sport last year, the UFC debuted at Madison Square Garden in November with Conor McGregor headlining the star-stacked UFC 205.