Newport Beach, CA. (September 9, 2013) – Shahbulat Shamhalaev has withdrawn from Bellator’s Season 9 Featherweight Tournament as the Russian native has returned to Dagestan to attend to his ailing father. Bellator newcomer Justin Wilcox will replace Shamhalaev and will face Akop Stepanyan in the Bellator Featherweight Tournament Opening Round live on Spike TV.
The first fight of the night will begin at 4:30 p.m. PST and the LIVE national television broadcast on Spike TV starts at 6 p.m. PST, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com. Tickets for the event start at just $50, and can be purchased by visiting Pechanga.com, Bellator.com, or by calling the Pechanga Box Office at 877-711-2946 or visiting between noon and 8 p.m. daily.
The full fight card for Bellator MMA from Pechanga Resort can be found below:
MAIN CARD
Bellator Featherweight Opening Round: Patricio Pitbull (17-2) vs. Diego Nunes (18-4)
Bellator Featherweight Opening Round: Justin Wilcox (11-5) vs. Akop Stepanyan (13-5)
Bellator Featherweight Opening Round: Des Green (8-1) vs. Fabricio Guerreiro (17-1)
Bellator Featherweight Opening Round: Joe Taimanglo (18-4) vs. Andrew Fisher (12-4)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Vladimir Matyushenko (26-7) vs. Houston Alexander (15-9)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Savio Kosic (4-1) vs. Hector Ramirez (9-5)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Derek Loffer (4-1) vs. Mario Navarro (4-3)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Andy Murad (6-0) vs. Gavin Sterritt (4-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Musa Toliver (9-8) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (14-1)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Manny Lara (4-3) vs. Blagoi Ivanov (7-0)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Nick Moghaddam (6-6) vs. Virgil Zwicker (10-3)
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA
