Ryan Bader defends title vs. Linton Vassell at Bellator 186; Penn State alums Phil Davis, Ed Ruth also on card

For the first time, Bellator will touch down at Penn State University this fall, and the light heavyweight title will be on the line.

Newly crowned champ Ryan Bader (23-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will put his 205-pound belt up against Linton Vassell (18-5 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) in the Bellator 186 main event, promotion officials confirmed to PennLive.com‘s Brian Linder. Also on the card will be a pair of Penn State wrestling alums, former champ Phil Davis (17-4 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and Ed Ruth (3-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), though their opponents will be announced later.

Bellator 186 will take place Nov. 3 at Bryce Jordan Center on Penn State’s campus in University Park, Pa. The main card will air on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Bader made his promotional debut in June in the main event of the Bellator 180 portion of Bellator NYC at Madison Square Garden in New York. In a split decision, he took the light heavyweight title from Davis in a rematch from when they previously met under the UFC banner in 2015 – when he also won a split call.

The win was Bader’s third straight and eighth in nine outings. Seven of those eight came for the UFC, the promotion he spent the bulk of his career fighting for, and where he won Season 8 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” But earlier this year, he left the promotion as a free agent, signed with Bellator, promptly got a title shot, and took home the belt.

Linton Vassell

England’s Vassell now gets the title shot he has been asking for. He brings three straight wins into the fight, including a third-round submission of ex-champ Liam McGeary at Bellator 179 in May in London. Prior to that, he avanged a loss to Emanuel Newton with a unanimous decision at Bellator 149 and outpointed Francis Carmont at Bellator 165, both in 2016.

Davis, a Pennsylvania native, won a national wrestling title at 197 pounds for the Nittany Lions in 2008. He finished his college career with a 116-15 mark on the mats and was a four-time D-I All-American. He’ll attempt to get back in the win column after losing his light heavyweight title to Bader, which snapped a perfect 4-0 start to his Bellator tenure after coming to the promotion after years with the UFC.

For more on Bellator 186, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.