Bellator 197 “Primus vs. Chandler 2” goes down Apr. 13, 2018 at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Former two time Lightweight champion “Iron” Michael Chandler (17-4) will be looking to reclaim the belt he lost at Madison Square Garden last June to Brent Primus (8-0).
Initially an intriguing preliminary card bout was set for another star of Bellator’s MSG debut. Zach Freeman (9-3) was set to face Zak Bucia (18-9) at Lightweight. Freeman blitzed Aaron Pico under the bright lights in New York, then dealt with the irony of quickly being finished by Saad Awad in his next fight. Bucia came to Bellator off three straight wins but lost via Neiman Gracie neck crank.
Both fighters were looking to turn around their fortunes in Missouri, but Freeman has withdrawn due to undisclosed injury, and “Barbaric” Derek Anderson (14-3, 1 NC) will take his place. Anderson has been out of action since his Bellator 170 loss to Derek Campos last January. Before that he scored back to back wins against Saad Awad and Patricky Freire.
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