Shahbulat Shamhalaev has withdrawn from the Bellator season nine featherweight tournament as he has returned to Dagestan to be with his ailing father and taking his place in the tournament will be Justin Wilcox.
Bellator announced the change on Monday afternoon and Wilcox will face Akop Stepanyan in one of the four opening round bouts in the featherweight tournament on Friday night.
Bellator 99 will come from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California and tickets are still available at 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 preliminary card will begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Spike.com and will feature the return of heavyweight Blagoi Ivanov and the Bellator debut of featherweight Goiti Yamauchi.
Following the conclusion of the preliminary card, the main card will begin at 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and along with the tournament bouts, the main card will have a light heavyweight bout as Vladimir Matyushenko (26-7) meets Houston Alexander (15-9, 2NC).
The current Bellator 101 card is below.
Main Card: (Spike TV – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Patricio Pitbull (17-2) vs. Diego Nunes (18-4) *
Justin Wilcox (11-5) vs. Akop Stepanyan (13-5) *
Des Green (8-1) vs. Fabricio Guerreiro (17-1) *
Joe Taimanglo (18-4) vs. Andrew Fisher (12-4) *
Vladimir Matyushenko (26-7) vs. Houston Alexander (15-9)
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 Opening Round