An undisclosed injury forced Goiti Yamauchi out of Bellator 139, and Pat Curran has a new opponent on 18 days’ notice.
Curran, a former Bellator featherweight champion, is now set to take on Emmanuel Sanchez at the upcoming card in Mulvane, Kansas, on June 26. The promotion announced the new match-up on Monday.
A featherweight from Roufusport MMA, Sanchez (10-1) enters the cage coming off six wins with four first-round stoppages. Under the Bellator banner, “El Matador” tapped Stephen Banaszak and defeated Alejandro Villalobos via unanimous decision.
Curran (20-7) looks to get back on track following back-to-back decision losses to 145-pound champion Patricio Freire and number one contender Daniel Weichel. Curran holds a 10-4 record in Bellator, but lost three of his last four.
Bellator also announced four new bouts for the card. In the heavyweight division, Alex Huddleston (5-1) meets Javy Ayala (8-3) and Derek Bohi (5-4) takes on Frederick Brown (2-1). At 155 pounds, Marcio Navarro (13-11) faces Cody Carrillo (8-11), while Greg Scott (3-3) vs. Gaston Reyno (3-0) takes place in the featherweight division.
The complete Bellator 139 fight card, which takes place at the Kansas Star Event Center Arena, can be seen below:
Main card:
Cheick Kongo vs. Alexander Volkov
Dave Rickels vs. John Alessio
Pat Curran vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
Joe Schilling vs. Hisaki Kato
Preliminary card:
Bubba Jenkins vs. Joe Wilk
Jeimeson Saudino vs. Aaron Ely
Bobby Cooper vs. Pablo Villaseca
Daniel Gallemore vs. Augusto Sakai
Iony Razafiarison vs. Bryanna Fissori
Alex Huddleston vs. Javy Ayala
Greg Scott vs. Gaston Reyno
Derek Bohi vs. Frederick Brown
Marcio Navarro vs. Cody Carrillo