Bellator officials announced a pair of significant bookings on Friday night.
Following his commission setback, former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren has been rescheduled to fight Nick Kirk in the main event of Bellator 101, which takes place September 27, 2013 at the Rose Gardenin Portland, OR.
Warren (8-3) and Kirk (10-2) nearly collided at Bellator 96 to kick off season nine’s four-man bantamweight tournament, however the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations deemed Warren medically unfit to compete just days before the event.
Sources close to the situation told MMAFighting.com that reason for the abrupt decision was because Warren got “knocked out while sparring” close to the fight.
In addition, Bellator’s ‘Fight Master’ finale, a welterweight pairing of Joe Riggs vs. Mike Bronzoulis, has been rebooked for the Spike TV preliminary card of Bellator’s inaugural November 2nd pay-per-view.
The two ‘Fight Master’ finalists were initially set to battle at Bellator 98, however a last-second Riggs eye injury postponed the bout.
Over the course of the 10-episode show, Riggs (39-14, 1 NC) outpointed Eric Scallan, Evan Cutts and Cole Williams in succession to pave his way to the tournament final, while perennial underdog Bronzoulis gutted past Jason Norwood, Chris Lozano and Eric Bradley.