Atlantic City, NJ. (May 1, 2014) – Bellator 118’s Interim Bantamwieght World Title fight will still be 5 rounds and feature Joe Warren vs. Rafael Silva, but because Silva missed weight by 2 pounds, the belt will only be on the line for Warren. If Silva wins, he will simply notch another tremendous victory to his 13 straight wins.
If Warren is victorious he will be named the Bellator Bantamweight Interim Champion, where if Silva is awarded the victory, Bellator’s only Bantamweight Champion will be remain, Eduardo Dantas.
“Rafael Silva is a warrior. He was offered this opportunity 3 weeks ago when Dantas was injured. He had a tremendous amount of weight to cut and got incredibly close, but to push for the last two pounds would simply have been medically unsafe,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Another great warrior here, Joe Warren made weight, so the Belt remains in the line for Joe. We always have a contingency plan in place for instances like this, and we are moving ahead with this 5 round fight which should be fireworks.”
Additionally, Justin Baesman has replaced Sam Oropeza, who for the third time in four fights also failed to make weight. Justin Baesman replaces Oropeza and will face Andrey Koreshkov in the Bellator Welterweight Semifinals.
With the changes, the full fight card for Bellator 118 can be found below:
MAIN CARD:
Bellator Bantamweight Interim Title Fight (137 lbs): Rafael Silva (136.9) vs. Joe Warren (134.6)
Bellator Welterweight Tournament Semifinal: Andrey Koreshkov (171) vs. Justin Baesman (170.6)
Catchweight Feature Fight (137 lbs): Thomas Vasquez (134.6) vs. Marcos Galvao (136.8)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Opening Round: Mike Mucitelli (205) vs. Liam McGeary (204)
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Catchweight Feature Fight (172 lbs): Gemiyale Adkins (172.4) vs. Dante Rivera (170.9)
Catchweight Feature Fight (187 lbs): Jesus Martinez (185.6) vs. Ryan Contaldi (186.7)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Tim Woods (186) vs. Eugene Fadiora (184.9)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Joe Pingitore (145.9) vs. Darrion Caldwell (145.8)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Mike Bannon (155.9) vs. Sidney Outlaw (155.7)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Amran Aliyev (146) vs. Kevin Roddy (145.5)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Jay Haas (144.4) vs. Lester Caslow (145.5)
