Bellator will relaunch Friday, but it’ll do so without [autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag].
Originally scheduled to face [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] on the Bellator 255 main card, Mitrione (13-8 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) has withdrawn from the event for an undisclosed reason.
Two people with knowledge of the withdrawal informed MMA Junkie of Mitrione’s removal Sunday, but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Bellator 255 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
According to one person with knowledge of the matchup, the likely frontrunner to fight Fortune (9-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) is [autotag]Jack May[/autotag], a former UFC fighter. Fortune fought to a no contest against May (11-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at Bellator 245 in September. The fight ended after Fortune landed multiple low blows and May could not continue.
Since the no contest, each fighter has competed once. Fortune beat Said Sowma by unanimous decision at Bellator 251 in November. In January, May lost a split decision to Kyle Noblitt at XMMA.
With the change, the Bellator 255 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
- Champ Patricio Freire vs. Emmanuel Sanchez – for featherweight title; featherweight grand prix semifinal
- Mike Hamel vs. Usman Nurmagomedov
- Neiman Gracie vs. Jason Jackson
- Alejandra Lara vs. Kana Watanabe
- Tyrell Fortune vs. Jack May
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
- Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Herman Terrado
- Fabio Aguiar vs. Khalid Murtazaliev
- Branko Busick vs. Jordan Newman
- Roman Faraldo vs. Trevor Gudde
- Cee Jay Hamilton vs. Magomed Magomedov
- Ricardo Seixas Filho vs. Mandel Nallo
- Chris Gonzalez vs. Roger Huerta