The planned co-main event for Saturday’s Bellator 154 card is no more, as Sergei Kharitonov has fallen ill.
According to a report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Kharitonov and Josh Appelt is off the planned event from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Evangelista Santos vs. Saad Awad moves into the co-main role on Spike TV.
Yep. Sergei Kharitinov is indeed off Bellator card on Friday in San Jose. Being told he's ill.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 10, 2016
Kharitonov signed with Bellator earlier this year, having previously competed for Scott Coker in Strikeforce. The Russian is 23-5 in his career and unbeaten over his last five since a 2011 submission loss to Josh Barnett.
This is the second scheduled co-main event for the card to be removed, as Josh Thomson was expected to meet Michael Chandler before an injury knocked Thomson out. The event goes head-to-head with UFC 198.