Ed Ruth moves to welterweight to fight Laszlo Furko at Bellator 196

Bellator’s welterweight roster just got even deeper.

Undefeated middleweight Ed Ruth will drop down to the 170-pound division to fight Laszlo Furko at Bellator 196 on April 6 at BOK Hall in Budapest, Hungary, officials confirmed with MMA Fighting.

The bout was first reported by MMAjunkie.

A three-time NCAA wrestling champion, Ruth is unbeaten in four appearances for Bellator, with all of his wins coming by way of knockout. Most recently, the 27-year-old Penn State alum finished former UFC fighter Chris Dempsey with strikes in the second round of their meeting atBellator 186 last November. None of Ruth’s opponents have made it to round three.

Furko will be making his Bellator debut. The 28-year-old Hungarian holds a 6-3 professional record, with wins in three of his past four outings including back-to-back first-round KO victories.

Bellator 196 will be headlined by a lightweight bout between former UFC champion Benson Henderson and fellow ex-UFC standout Roger Huerta.

See the updated card below:

Ben Henderson vs. Roger Huerta

Adam Borics vs. Manuel Gaxhja

Brian Moore vs. Giorgio Belsanti

Denise Kielholtz vs. Lena Ovchynnikova

Ed Ruth vs. Laszlo Furko