Bellator 300 is down one title fight.
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A heavyweight championship clash pitting Ryan Bader
against Linton
Vassell has been scratched after Vassell was forced to withdraw
from the event due to illness. Sherdog confirmed the news with a
promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com.
Bader vs. Vassell was previously announced as the Bellator 300
headliner, but Saturday’s card still features three title bouts on
the main card.
Bellator 300 takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego,
California, and will proceed with a three-fight main card, per
promotion officials. That includes the following: a women’s
featherweight title tilt between Cristiane
Justino and Cat Zingano;
a women’s flyweight championship matchup between Liz
Carmouche and Ilima-Lei
Macfarlane and a lightweight grand prix showdown between
reigning 155-pound champ Usman
Nurmagomedov and Brent
Primus. The main draw airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m.
PT.
Bader and Vassell initially squared off in a 205-pound title bout
at Bellator 186, with the Power MMA Team standout retaining his
belt in a third-round technical knockout victory. Bader claimed
heavyweight gold with a first-round stoppage of Fedor
Emelianenko in the finals of the Bellator heavyweight grand
prix in January 2019. He has since defended the crown with triumphs
over Valentin
Moldavsky, Cheick Kongo
and Emelianenko.
Vassell is 5-1 since moving to heavyweight in 2019. Most recently,
he avenged a loss to Moldavsky in a first-round knockout win at
Bellator 292 on March 10. “Big Swarm” has also bested Tim Johnson,
Tyrell
Fortune, Ronny
Markes and Sergei
Kharitonov in the big man’s division.