Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET on Spike TV, Bellator 119 will get underway, albeit with a different looking fight card than was envisioned at the outset. An injury to Brett Cooper has forced him to pull out of his middleweight tournament bout against Brandon Halsey, while international travel issues thwarted the Shahbulat Shamhalaev vs. Fabricio Guerreiro fight as Guerreiro couldn't get proper passport clearance. The remaining fights can be live streamed free by clicking this link. The new main event pits Daniel Weichel vs. Desmond Green. Prelim fights kick off at 7:00.
Cooper's fight was a highly anticipated one, with the winner receiving a title shot against reigning Bellator middleweight king Alexander Shlemenko.
"After my fight with Kendall [Grove], my back just hasn't been where I need it to be to have a proper training camp for one of the biggest fights of my career," Cooper said. "It's a setback, but with some time off, I should be ready to go by late July. I never like missing time, but I know this is the right move. I'll be back stronger, and I'm looking forward to winning another tournament and getting another shot against Shlemenko."
At 33-8, Weichel is an experienced veteran whose record may indicate he's slowing down; on the contrary, he's won his last four fights, which represents the total number of bouts Green has had in Bellator altogether. 11 of Green's 13 victories have come via decision or submission, so fans shouldn't tune in to this bout expecting fireworks.
Weichel is a bit of a submission artist himself, so a decision or submission victory is likely in the offing in the main event.
The rest of the main card is as follows, courtesy of Bellator.com.
Chris Horodecki (20-4-1) vs. Marlon Sandro (24-5-1)
Marius Zaromskis (19-8) vs. Vaughn Anderson (16-2-1)
Raphael Butler (8-0) vs. Nick Rossborough (23-18)
PRELIM CARD
Eric Wisely (22-8) vs. John Alessio (34-17)
Brian Rogers (10-6) vs. Adrian Miles (14-5)
Stuart Austin (7-0) vs. Craig Hudson (4-3)
Jason Meisel (4-3) vs. Remy Bussieres (3-0)
Chris Kelades (6-0) vs. Malcolm Gordon (4-0)
Behrang Yousefi (5-4) vs. Chad Freeman (8-5)
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