An injury has forced Dave Jansen out of his upcoming fight against Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler at Bellator 96 and Chandler will now defend his title against David Rickels at Bellator 97 on July 31st.
Bellator announced the change on Sunday and with Chandler now defending his title in July, Bellator 96 on June 19th in Oklahoma will not have any title fights on the card.
Bellator 97 on July 31st will now have two title fights with Chandler-Rickels being added to the card with Bellator previously announcing the card would be headlined by Ben Askren defending the Bellator welterweight title against Andrey Koreshkov.
Jansen suffered an ACL injury while preparing for his fight with Chandler and he will get his lightweight title shot once he recovers from his injury.
“It was just sort of a freak injury that happened in grappling, I heard a pop and after visiting the doctor, my fears were confirmed,” Jansen said. “It’s really devastating to me knowing I was so close to getting my shot, but I talked to Bjorn [Rebney] and the Bellator team and they confirmed I’ll be getting my title shot when I’m healthy and ready to go, so I’m going to recover and train as hard as I ever have, and hopefully when I get back into the cage it’s more rewarding than ever.”
Rickles (14-1) won the season eight lightweight tournament earlier this year when he defeated Saad Awad by TKO at the end of the second round. Since losing to Karl Amoussou in the season six Bellator welterweight tournament semifinals, he has won four in a row and his upcoming fight with Chandler will be his fourth fight in 2013.
“I’m already back in the gym getting ready for the biggest test of my career,” Rickels said. “I was prepared for another few months off with Jansen already in line for his title shot, but when I got the news I was pumped because I got to enjoy myself for a while after the tournament, but now I’m ready to fight for that belt. Chandler is going to bring a huge challenge, but I know I need to focus on my takedown defense, and just push the pace. I’ve got to hurt Mike early, let him know I’m not playing around. I think he fights off of confidence more than anything else, so I’m looking to put a lot of doubt into his head early in this fight. Either way, I just can’t wait until July 31st.”
Chandler (11-0) has been the Bellator lightweight champion since the end of 2011 and this will be his second title defense. His first title defense came earlier this year and he defeated Rick Hawn by rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
The current Bellator 96 and 97 main cards are below:
Bellator 96: June 19th
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (9-2. 1NC) vs. Seth Petruzelli (14-7)
Renato “Babalu” Sobral (37-10) vs. Jacob Noe (11-2)
Vitaly Minakov (10-0) vs. Ron Sparks (8-1)
War Machine (12-4) vs. Blas Avena (8-6)
Vinicius “Spartan” Queiroz (6-3) vs. Rich Hale (21-5)
Bellator 97: July 31st
Michael Chandler (11-0) vs. David Rickels (14-1)
Ben Askren (11-0) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (13-0)
Douglas Lima (24-5) vs. Ben Saunders (16-5-2)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Finals: TBD vs. TBD
Patricio Pitbull (17-2) vs. Rob Emerson (12-10)