Two big changes have been made to this Friday’s Bellator 243 event.
MMA Junkie has confirmed that Joel Bauman and Ahmed Samir Hefny have been pulled from their respective matches on the show. Bauman was set to fight for the first time since July 2019 against Taylor Johnson. This would’ve been Bauman’s second fight in Bellator MMA.
Hefny was scheduled to make his Bellator MMA debut against undefeated fighter Christian Edwards on Friday. Prior to Bellator MMA, Hefny has competed in MMA Pro League and Ring of Combat. Both Bauman and Hefny have been pulled for undisclosed reasons, and their respective opponents will not receive replacements for the event. Edwards and Johnson will be compensated, despite not fighting.
Bellator 243 is being headlined with a rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson. Check out the updated line-up for the match-card below:
MAIN CARD (Paramount, DAZN, 10 p.m. ET)
Michael Chandler vs. Benson Henderson
Timothy Johnson vs. Matt Mitrione
Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Myles Jury
Sabah Homasi vs. Curtis Millender
PRELIMINARY CARD ( 6:45 p.m. ET)
Adam Borics vs. Mike Hamel
AJ Agazarm vs. Cris Lencioni
Charlie Campbell vs. Nainoa Dung
Mark Gardner vs. Dalton Rosta
Grant Neal vs. Hamza Salim
Tara Graff vs. Valerie Loureda