Patricio Freire has a new opponent for Bellator 138.
Georgi Karakhanyan, slated to meet the featherweight champion on June 19, has suffered a torn ACL and is out of the Bellator 138 co-main event. Sources close to the situation confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com following a report by Daily News.
“Pitbull” Freire (23-2) won the Bellator 145-pound championship with a decision victory over Pat Curran in September, and scored a fourth-round submission over Daniel Straus to defend it in January.
Bellator 138 takes place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and features Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock in the main event.
UPDATE: According to sources close to the situation, Freire is now set to defend the featherweight title against Daniel Weichel.
Weichel (35-8) is unbeaten under the Bellator banner with four wins, most recently defeating former champion Pat Curran via split decision in February.