That did not take long.
Two-combat sport star Joe Schilling will be back in the MMA cage against Hisaki Kato at Bellator 139 on June 26 in Mulvane, Kan., the organization announced Monday.
Schilling (2-4), who also competes for GLORY kickboxing, is coming off a split decision loss to Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 136 in April. “Stich ‘Em Up” thought he won that fight, especially since Carvalho left the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif., with a broken jaw. But the Brazilian controlled the relative MMA novice on the ground. Schilling, 31, made his Bellator debut in a huge way back in November when he knocked out Melvin Manhoef with one of the top KOs of 2014.
Schilling also has a GLORY win over Robert Thomas this year back in February. It’s unclear when he will be back in the kickboxing ring.
Kato (4-1), a Japan native, has never fought in the United States before now. A veteran of the Heat organization, Kato has won all of his fights by knockout, but is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Henrique Shigemoto in March. It appears very much like this will be a showcase fight for Schilling, a striking specialist and potential star.
Bellator 139 is headlined by a heavyweight contender bout between Alexander Volkov and Cheick Kongo. The co-main event pits lightweights John Alessio and David Rickels against one another. Pat Curran, the former Bellator featherweight champion, also returns on that card, taking on Goiti Yamauchi.