The wild card round of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix has a new matchup after a fighter withdrawal.
[autotag]Josh Hill[/autotag] has pulled out from his bout against [autotag]Enrique Barzola[/autotag] due to undisclosed reasons. Hill (21-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) was set to meet Barzola at Bellator 278 on April 22 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
Stepping up to replace hill will be [autotag]Nikita Mikhailov[/autotag], the promotion announced on Monday.
Mikhailov (9-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) will enter the grand prix on a five-fight win streak that includes two wins under the Bellator banner. He most recently finished Blaine Shutt via third rounds ground and pound at Bellator 273 in January.
Barzola (17-5-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), a 10-fight UFC veteran, will keep the date he was preparing for, but now faces a new opponent in his second Bellator bout.
The winner of this fight will move on to face [autotag]Magomed Magomedov[/autotag] in the semifinals at Bellator 282 on June 24.
With the change, the Bellator 278 lineup now includes:
- Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche
- Enrique Barzola vs. Nikita Mikhailov
- Jornel Lugo vs. Danny Sabatello
- Christian Edwards vs. Grant Neal
- Nate Andrews vs. Manny Muro
- Weber Almeida vs. Fabricio Franco
- Cee Jay Hamilton vs. Erik Perez
- Makoa Cooper vs. Blake Perry
- Scotty Hao vs. Dante Schiro
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