Alexander Shlemenko vs. Tito Ortiz added to Bellator PPV

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Bellator Fighting Championship’s first venture onto pay-per-view has added another fight, and a surprising one at that. Bellator Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko (50-7, 11-1 BFC) will be moving up a weight class to take on former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and UFC Hall Of Famer Tito Ortiz (16-11-1, 0-0 BFC) at the May 17 event from Southaven, Mississippi.

Sherdog.com first reported the bout.  Ortiz himself has also confirmed it via his Twitter feed.

Shlemenko will enter the fight riding a 13-fight win streak and is coming off a successful title defense against Brennan Ward at Bellator 114 on March 28. Shlemenko called out Ortiz for this fight, posting a video challenging Ortiz on Thursday. Ortiz has recently been cleared to return to action following a neck injury, which pulled him from a scheduled bout against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at Bellator 106, which was supposed to be Bellator’s original debut on pay-per-view.

Ortiz has lost three straight fights and has just one win in his last nine fights yet he remains one of the most polarizing individuals in the sport. He last fought at UFC 148 in July 2012, losing a decision to Forrest Griffin in what was, at the time, his retirement fight on the heels of being inducted into the UFC Hall Of Fame. He came out of retirement to sign with Bellator for the cancelled Jackson bout, and he will make his return to the cage against Shlemenko.

Bellator 120 takes place from the Landers Arena in Southaven, Mississippi and will air on pay-per-view, with preliminary action expected to air on Spike TV. Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler will finish their trilogy in the main event for Alvarez’ Bellator Lightweight Championship, and Quinton Jackson and Muhammed Lawal will fight in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament finals in the co-main event.

Ryan Frederick has been a diehard mixed martial arts fan since he saw UFC 1 at the age of 7. Since then he has yet to miss a show. He also has loves for football, baseball and fine whiskey. He fell in love with covering MMA after having also covered baseball and football, both professional and college, while working towards a journalism degree at Texas Christian University. His work has been seen on FOXSports.com, InsideFights.com, WrestlingObserver.com, Bleacher Report and ToughTalkMMA.com.