SOURCES: Bellator 259 Fight Card to include Davion Franklin vs Tyler King on May 21

Author:
Mike Pendleton
Publish date:
Apr 9, 2021

The Bellator 259 fight card continues to take shape as another well-respected prospect is slated to compete on the card on May 21. According to sources, MixedMartialArts.com has learned that developmental heavyweight Davion Franklin is scheduled to face Tyler King who is a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter.

What you need to know: This will be the third fight for Franklin in his professional career and both of his professional fights have come under the Bellator MMA promotion where he is 2-0 with one first-round finish.

Franklin is the second fighter to be a recipient of the JacksonWink/Mata Leon Management scholarship, the first is his teammate Christian Edwards who will also compete on the same card, and sits at #7 in the official Bellator rankings.
Franklin had a first-round finish of JW Kiser in his first professional fight and then picked up a unanimous decision victory over Ras Hylton at Bellator 246 in September of 2020.

His last scheduled fight was scheduled to take place against Anthony Garrett at Bellator 254 in December but the fight was canceled on the night of the event after Garrett was deemed medically unable to compete.

Between the lines: Tyler King (12-9) is a MMA veteran having made appearances across several promotions including Bellator, CES, RIZIN, World Series Of Fighting, and one appearance on The Ultimate Fighter Season 19.

Most recently, King has been more active under the Fight 2 Win promotion competing in grappling competitions.
King's last MMA appearance came at CES 61 when he suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jamelle Jones.

The big picture: Bellator 259 will feature two fighters under the JacksonWink/Mata Leon scholarship and while the promotion has yet to announce the Franklin vs King fight.