The Bellator MMA debut of Fedor Emelianenko is going to have to wait.
On Saturday, at Bellator 172, Emelianenko was scheduled to fight Matt Mitrione in the main event. However, just hours before the event was set to start, Mitrione was forced to withdraw from the fight due to kidney stones.
With Emelianenko vs. Mitrione canceled, a lightweight fight between Josh Thomson and Patricky “Pitbull” Freire has been promoted to the main event.
Josh Thomson vs. Patricky Pitbull is the new main event tonight, per sources. Expect Bellator to officially announce shortly.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2017
Thomson is on a two-fight win streak and is unbeaten in Bellator. His first Bellator win came by submission, with his second win coming by knockout.
Freire is coming off a knockout loss to Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler.
With the main event canceled, the preliminary fight between Francisco France and Anatoly Tokov was moved to the main card, which will air live on Spike.
Bellator 172 takes place Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
