UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Two fights have been canceled from Friday’s Bellator 243 card at Mohegan Sun.
Middleweight Joel Bauman is out of his preliminary card bout against Taylor Johnson. Additionally, Ahmed Samir Hefny, who was expected to fight Christian Edwards at a 210-pound catchweight, is off the card. Neither Johnson nor Edwards will receive a replacement opponent.
A Bellator official informed MMA Junkie of the cancelations Tuesday, citing “undisclosed reasons” as the cause. The official noted Johnson and Edwards will be compensated, despite not fighting.
Edwards (3-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), a recipient of the Jackson Wink-Mata Leon scholarship, is a training partner of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. In November, Edwards, 21, went viral with a vicious 16-second head kick knockout over Cesar Bennett.
Johnson (5-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) recently signed with Bellator and was expected to make his promotional debut Friday. “Tombstone” dominated his competition in LFA prior to a Dana White’s Contender Series loss in August 2019.
With the changes, the Bellator 243 lineup includes:
- Michael Chandler vs. Benson Henderson
- Timothy Johnson vs. Matt Mitrione
- Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Myles Jury
- Sabah Homasi vs. Curtis Millender
- Adam Borics vs. Mike Hamel
- AJ Agazarm vs. Cris Lencioni
- Dalton Rosta vs. Mark Gardner
- Nainoa Dung vs. Charlie Campbell
- Grant Neal vs. Hamza Salim
- Valerie Loureda vs. Tara Graff
Bellator 243 loses two fights from Friday's lineup in Connecticut
