Sickness Forces Eric Prindle to Withdraw From Bellator 61 Rematch With Thiago Santos


(When you gotta go, you gotta go.) 

An apparent case of influenza has forced Bellator season 5 finalist Eric Prindle out from his rematch with fellow finalist Thiago Santos. After their first contest ended in the most brutal form of No Contest possible back at Bellator 59 in November, the pair was set to give things another go at Bellator 61, which goes down tomorrow from the River Dome in Boisser City, LA.

Prindle’s record stands at 9-1 with the aforementioned 1 no-contest, with three of those wins coming under the Bellator banner. In his promotional debut, Prindle scored a second round TKO due to doctor stoppage victory over Josh Burns at Bellator 40 in April of 2011, then cruised past TUF 10 vet Abe Wagner by UD the following October in their season five heavyweight tournament quarterfinal match. In the semi’s, Prindle demolished fellow power puncher Ron Sparks in just forty seconds at Bellator 56 via one punch knockout, earning his spot in the finals alongside Thiago Santos, who had racked up two straight rear-naked choke finishes in his preliminary matches.

Videos of both the Sparks and Santos fights, along with the full lineup for Bellator 61, are after the jump. 


(When you gotta go, you gotta go.) 

An apparent case of influenza has forced Bellator season 5 finalist Eric Prindle out from his rematch with fellow finalist Thiago Santos. After their first contest ended in the most brutal form of No Contest possible back at Bellator 59 in November, the pair was set to give things another go at Bellator 61, which goes down tomorrow from the River Dome in Boisser City, LA.

Prindle’s record stands at 9-1 with the aforementioned 1 no-contest, with three of those wins coming under the Bellator banner. In his promotional debut, Prindle scored a second round TKO due to doctor stoppage victory over Josh Burns at Bellator 40 in April of 2011, then cruised past TUF 10 vet Abe Wagner by UD the following October in their season five heavyweight tournament quarterfinal match. In the semi’s, Prindle demolished fellow power puncher Ron Sparks in just forty seconds at Bellator 56 via one punch knockout, earning his spot in the finals alongside Thiago Santos, who had racked up two straight rear-naked choke finishes in his preliminary matches.

Prindle vs. Sparks

Prindle vs. Santos

Bellator 61 Lineup 
Main Card
Middleweight Quarterfinal bout: Brazil Maiquel Falcao vs. France Norman Paraisy
Middleweight Quarterfinal bout: Brazil Vitor Vianna vs. United States Brian Rogers
Middleweight Quarterfinal bout: Russia Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. United States Victor O’Donnell
Middleweight Quarterfinal bout: Brazil Giva Santana vs. Brazil Bruno Santos

Preliminary Card (Spike.com)
Lightweight bout: United States Quaint Kempf vs. United States Josh Quayhagen
Middleweight bout: United States Trey Houston vs. United States Jeremiah Riggs
Welterweight bout: United States Derrick Krantz vs. United States Eric Scallan
Lightweight bout: United States Derek Campos vs. United States Patrick Cenoble
Bantamweight bout: United States Jeremy Myers vs. United States Jason Sampson

-J. Jones