Bellator MMA returning to Save Mart Center in June

Bellator MMA is coming back to town.

And this time, there’ll be a title belt championship on the line.

Bantamweight champion Marcos “Loro” Galvao (17-6-1) will face former champ Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas (17-4) in the main event of Bellator 156, scheduled for June 17 at Save Mart Center.

The title bout initially was slated last month for Bellator 150, but Galvao was forced to withdraw due to illness.

Tickets for Bellator 156 go on sale Thursday, starting at $25. A special pre-sale begins Tuesday at Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com and at the Save Mart Center Box office. The event also will be aired live on Spike TV.

In January, roughly 4,200 fans attended the Bellator 148 card at Save Mart Center.

Additional fights will be announced later. It remains unclear whether Fresno fighter Josh Koscheck will participate in the June event.

Koscheck already had to pull out of Bellator 148 because of injury and he recently withdrew from Bellator 153, scheduled for April 22 in Connecticut. He had been scheduled to face Matt Secor. Instead, training partner and fellow Fresno resident Chris Honeycutt will take on Secor next month.

Scott Coker, a veteran fight promoter and head of Bellator MMA, said after Bellator 148 that he was working on securing a bout between rivals Koscheck and Paul Daley at some point this year.

It remains to be seen if that heated showdown will go down as part of the June 17 event.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Bellator MMA returning to Save Mart Center in June."