With Dave Jansen Injured, Michael Chandler Now Faces David Rickels at Bellator 97
The injury bug has struck again, but this time it’s ruined a big fight for a promotion other than the UFC. Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler’s next title defense has been shifted from June 19th’s Bellator 96 to next month due to his opponent Dave Jansen being hurt.
Chandler will instead fight David ‘Caveman’ Rickels at next month’s Bellator 97. Both Jansen and Rickels are former lightweight tourney winners, and Jansen will retain his title shot to face the winner of Chandler-Rickels once he returns to full health.
The news comes as a setback for the talented Chandler, who took the belt from Eddie Alvarez in a classic back in 2011. After choking out judoka Rick Hawn in January, he looked to continue his run of momentum with a win over Jansen. Thankfully, his fight has only been pushed back to next month.
His opponent David Rickels has been on a tear of his own since cutting down to lightweight, dispatching all comers in his run towards the season 8 tourney title.
With the announcement, it appears that the light heavyweight tourney bout between King Mo and Seth Petruzelli will step into the main event slot. MMA Junkie confirmed the news but Bellator has yet to issue an official statement on the changes. Injuries, though not as prevalent and crushing as they were in 2012, have begun to take their toll upon high-profile MMA bouts. Thankfully, a suitable replacement was readily available, and Bellator’s summer series will go on with only a minor hitch in production.
