Former two time Bellator title challenger Linton Vassell will move up to the heavyweight division in his return to action from a nearly 10-month layoff.

Vassell (18-7 MMA, 7-5 BMMA), who has contested for Bellator gold twice at 205 pounds, jumps to heavyweight for a matchup with Valentin Moldavsky (7-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) at Bellator 218 this months.

A Bellator official today told MMAjunkie of the matchup.

Bellator 218 takes place March 22 at WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Okla. The main card airs on Paramount and streams on DAZN following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Vassell’s move to heavyweight comes after he spent his previous 12 Bellator bouts at light heavyweight. He’s coming off back-to-back knockout losses against Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, the latter of which took place at Bellator 200 in May 2018. After that, Vassell went back to the drawing board and decided he was going to switch divisions.

His first heavyweight test will come against Moldavsky, a Rizin veteran who has made two Bellator appearances. His most recent fight came at Bellator 202 in July 2018 when he earned a first-round TKO of Ernest James.

Also set for the Bellator 218 main card is a middleweight pairing between Mike Shipman (13-1 MMA, 4-0 BMMA), who is riding a 13-fight winning streak with 13 finishes, and Hracho Darpinyan (17-8-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), who fought to a draw against Gerald Harris in his lone Bellator appearance this past November.

In addition, a preliminary-card matchup in the light heavyweight division between 20-year-old debutant Christian Edwards (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Roman Huerta (1-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) is set for Bellator 218.

The latest Bellator 218 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Paramount, DAZN, 9 p.m. ET)

Emmanuel Sanchez vs. Ashleigh Grimshaw

Valentin Moldavsky vs. Linton Vassell

Hracho Darpinyan vs. Mike Shipman

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Nation Gibrick vs. Nick Page

Isaiah Gutierrez vs. Aaron Vickers

Ky Bennett vs. Deborah Kouzmin

Christian Edwards vs. Roman Huerta

For more on Bellator 218, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.