Brian ‘The Pikeman’ Moore (10-6) will join his SBG Ireland teammate James Gallagher on the upcoming Bellator 196 card from Budapest, Hungary.

Moore will take on Italian featherweight Giorgio Belsanti in a 145-pound undercard bout on the April 6th card in the Budapest Sports Arena. News of the booking was confirmed today by MMA Fighting.

This will be the Wexford man’s fourth assignment under the Bellator banner. He fell short in his debut for the organisation losing via submission to German veteran and top-ranked featherweight contender Daniel Weichel in late 2016. Moore followed that up with a second round TKO victory against Michal Horejsi four months later, also in Budapest.

However, it was Moore’s last bout which raised a lot of eyebrows in MMA circles around the globe. Drafted in as a short notice main event replacement, Moore took on the undefeated A.J. McKee in a retooled Bellator Dublin main event last November and had the highly-touted prospect in trouble on several occasions in the first two rounds before succumbing to a rear naked choke submission in the third.

Moore’s opponent, Giorgio Belsanti, owns a 7-6-1 ledger in the professional ranks.

Bellator 196 will be headlined by Moore’s teammate and compatriot James Gallagher, who takes on fellow undefeated fighter Adam Borics in the main event.