Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko booked for Bellator 120 pay-per-view

As expected former UFC champion Tito Ortiz (16-11-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will meet reigning Bellator MMA middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko (50-7 MMA, 11-1 BMMA) in a non-title light-heavyweight bout on May 17 at Bellator 120.

Shlemenko recently issued a video and called out Ortiz for a fight at the event, which marks the organization’s pay-per-view debut. With Ortiz interested and now medically cleared, officials today announced the fight.

Bellator 120 takes place at Landers Center in Southaven, Miss.

The bout marks the promotional debut of Ortiz, who was forced out of a planned Bellator 106 headliner against fellow ex-UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson due to a neck injury in November. He recently spoke to MMAjunkie about the appeal of the Shlemenko fight:

While once the sport’s most popular fighter, the 39-year-old has struggled in recent years. Ortiz is 1-7-1 since a 2006 victory over Ken Shamrock, and he hasn’t been in the cage since a July 2012 decision loss to Forrest Griffin. His most recent victory came in 2011, when he scored an upset of Ryan Bader after clipping him and choking him out in the first round of their UFC 132 bout.

Shlemenko, meanwhile, is surging with 13 straight victories and 19 wins in his past 20 fights. Most recently, the 29-year-old Russian picked up career win No. 50 and posted his consecutive Bellator title defense with a second-round submission victory of Brennan Ward at Bellator 114 in March. Already small at middleweight, he’ll have a noticeable size disadvantage against veteran 205-pounder Ortiz, though he’s still likely to be a significant favorite at the sportsbooks.

The latest Bellator 120 card now includes:

• Champ Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler – for lightweight title
• Quinton Jackson vs. Muhammed Lawal – light-heavyweight tournament final
• Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko – non-title fight
• Will Brooks vs. Nate Jolly

For the latest on Bellator 120, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Tito Ortiz)