The welterweight tournament semifinal that was scheduled to take place this past Friday between Andrey Koreshkov and Sam Oropeza has a new date as they will meet in the co-main event of Bellator 118
The new fight booking was announced by Bellator on Monday, along with the complete fight card for the May 2nd show.
Bellator 118 will come from the Revel Casino in Atlantic City and will be headlined by Eduardo Dantas defending the Bellator bantamweight title against season nine tournament winner Joe Warren.
Koreshkov and Oropeza were scheduled to meet in the co-main event of last week’s Bellator 115, but Koreshkov had to pull out of the fight when he came down with the flu. With the fight being moved to Bellator 118, it will mark the fourth time in his five Bellator fights that Oropeza will be fighting in Atlantic City.
“I always say things happen for a reason, and this is one of those moments where everything is coming together,” Oropeza said. “It was frustrating to hear the fight got pushed back after training so hard for this semifinal fight, but when we heard I’d be fighting back in Revel so close to friends and family, things really couldn’t have worked out better. Bellator has taken great care of me, and I can’t wait to put on a show on May 2nd and move onto the finals of this tournament.”
Along with the title fight and tournament semifinal, the main card on Spike TV will feature a bantamweight bout as former tournament winner Marcos Galvao (15-6-1) meets Thomas Vasquez (7-0) and top undefeated Bellator propsects meet in a light heavyweight bout as Liam McGeary faces Mike Mucitelli.
The current Bellator 118: Dantas vs. Warren fight card is below.
Main Card: (Spike TV – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Eduardo Dantas (16-3) vs. Joe Warren (10-3)
Andrey Koreshkov (15-1) vs. Sam Oropeza (11-2) *
Marcos Galvao (15-6-1) vs. Thomas Vasquez (7-0)
Liam McGeary (6-0) vs. Mike Mucitelli (6-0)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Tim Woods (6-4) vs. Dante Rivera (15-7)
Jesus Martinez (8-5) vs. Ryan Contaldi (7-7)
Joe Pingitore (4-1-1) vs. Darrion Caldwell (4-0)
Jay Haas (11-13) vs. Lester Caslow (11-9)
Julian Lane (6-3-1) vs. Anthony Morrison (18-10) #
Pat Bennett (4-3) vs. John Fain (1-0)
Mike Bannon (5-1) vs. Sidney Outlaw (2-0)
Amran Aliyev (3-2) vs. Kevin Roddy (13-15-1)
* – Welterweight Tournament Semifinal
# – Catchweight bout of 151 pounds