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Bellator champ Rafael Carvalho meets Alessio Sakara in Italy, hopes for Gegard Mousasi showdown in early 2018

Gegard Mousasi was willing to compete for the Bellator middleweight championship in his promotional debut, but it looks like that’s not happening right away.

A day after Mousasi announced on The MMA Hour that he left the UFC to sign a 6-fight deal with Bellator, the promotion’s middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho told MMA Fighting he signed his next title defense.

"The plan continues the same,” Carvalho said on Tuesday. "I signed the contract today to fight Alessio Sakara in December, so it's done.”

According to the middleweight champion, the fight will take place Dec.