For those of you who were eager to see Act II of Rafael Carvalho vs. Melvin Manhoef, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer.
Bellator announced that Carvalho, the promotion’s reigning middleweight champion, suffered an injury and is out of his rematch with Manhoef at Bellator 168 in Florence, Italy. Carvalho had controversially beaten Manhoef by decision in May, in a truly dreadful fight, and an immediate rematch was booked, but obviously will no longer be happening this year.
The new main event is a light heavyweight matchup between UFC veterans Alessio Sakara and Joey Beltran, which was the card’s original co-headliner. Sakara (18-11, 2 NCs) made his Bellator debut in April, knocking out Brian Rogers in the 2nd round of the Bellator 152 co-main event. Beltran (17-13, 1 NC) last fought in May, losing a heavyweight bout by split decision to Chase Gormley. His previous two Bellator outings, vs. Kendall Grove and Brian Rogers, were contested at middleweight.
Bellator 168: Sakara vs. Beltran will happen on Saturday, December 10th in Florence’s Nelson Mandela Forum. The card will air on Spike at 9 PM ET/PT on tape delay.
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