Yesterday, it was announced that Bellator and RIZIN would be making an announcement regarding this weekend’s combined card. While there had been rumors circulating regarding the health of former featherweight champion AJ McKee (20-1), nothing had been confirmed.
Well, today we learned that the former featherweight champion sustained an injury and as a result, he’s out of his Grand Prix matchup against former lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull (24-11). McKee is set to be an alternate moving forward, but because of the injury, he’s out of the standard Grand Prix.
Stepping in for McKee is RIZIN lightweight champion Roberto de Souza (15-2). De Souza fought McKee at the first Bellator – RIZIN card and lost a decision. He then fought in May against Spike Carlyle and won a decision. Now, he gets a golden opportunity to jump into Bellator’s prestigious Grand Prix.
Bellator champ takes short notice fight
It was also announced that Bellator’s featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull (35-6) was stepping in to face Chihiro Suzuki (10-3) on just a few days’ notice. Bellator – RIZIN 2 is the lead-in card for Super RIZIN 2. That card also has seen some adjusting after Kai Aasakura injured his knee and is out of his title fight against Juan Archuleta.
Archuleta is now facing Hiromasa Ougikubo for the vacant bantamweight title. Back to Patricio Pitbull, this will be the first time he’s fought since his decision loss to Sergio Pettis that denied him of becoming a three-division champion.
Accepting this fight on just a few days’ notice goes to show you what a company guy Patricio Pitbull is. I’m expecting a big performance from the featherweight champion this weekend.