A hand injury has forced former Bellator light heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu out of his Bellator 99 bout against Vladimir Matyushenko and replacing M’Pumbu will be former UFC fighter Houston Alexander. 
Bellator officials announced the change on Sunday and have announced that the fight card will now be headlined by Patricio Pitbull meeting Diego Nunes in one of the featherweight tournament quarterfinals.
Bellator 99 takes place on September 13th from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California and will be the second fight card of the upcoming ninth season of Bellator.
Alexander (15-9, 2NC) has won back to back fights and recently won the VFC light heavyweight title as he defeated Chuck Grigsby by knockout in the fourth round. This will be his first fight in Bellator and the bout against Matyushenko is a huge test for him.
“It’s an honor to be able to fight for an organization like Bellator,” Alexander said. “I always want to take big fights, and Matyushenko is a guy that’s been around this sport since the beginning, and it will be a huge test. I just want to go out there and smash, do what I do best.”
Matyushenko (26-7) will be making his Bellator debut and will look to snap a two fight losing streak against Alexander. In his last five fights, he is 2-3 with all of the fights ending in the first round and both of his wins were by TKO/KO.
Tickets for Bellator 99 start at just $50, and can be purchased by visiting Pechanga.com, Bellator.com, or by calling the Pechanga Box Office at 877-711-2946 or visiting between noon and 8 p.m. daily.
The current Bellator 99 card is below:
Main Card: (Spike TV – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Patricio Pitbull (17-2) vs. Diego Nunes (18-4) *
Vladimir Matyushenko (26-7) vs. Houston Alexander (15-9, 2NC)
Shahbulat Shamhalaev (12-2) vs. Akop Stepanyan (13-5) *
Joe Taimanglo (18-4) vs. Andrew Fisher (12-4) *
Desmond Green (8-1) vs. Fabricio Guerreiro (17-1) *
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT)
Savio Kosic (4-1) vs. Hector Ramirez (9-5)
Derek Loffer (4-1) vs. Mario Navarro (4-3)
Andy Murad (6-0) vs. Gavin Sterritt (4-1)
Musa Toliver (9-8) vs. Goiti Yamauchi (14-1)
Manny Lara (4-3) vs. Blagoi Ivanov (7-0)
Nick Moghaddam (6-6) vs. Virgil Zwicker (10-3)
* – Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal