Bellator fans are going to have to wait a little longer for the debuts of Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero.
Officials announced on Friday that the former UFC standouts will now fight on May 7 in the co-main event of Bellator 258 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Johnson and Romero were originally scheduled to fight at Bellator 257 on April 16 with their matchups serving as a quarterfinal bout in the upcoming light heavyweight grand prix.
The main event of Bellator 258 features Juan Archuleta’s first bantamweight title defense against Sergio Pettis. The event airs live on Showtime.
Another opening round grand prix matchup has also been moved, as Corey Anderson now fights Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov on April 16 in a co-main event bout originally set to take place at Bellator 256 on April 9. That card will be headlined by light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov defending his title against Phil Davis, with the winner advancing to the next round of the light heavyweight grand prix.
Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida’s quarterfinal grand prix matchup will serve as the Bellator 256 headliner as scheduled.
The exact reason for the schedule changes was not given. Bellator President Scott Coker said in the release, “Like everyone, we had a few hurdles with travel issues and had to move some things around, but I’m pleased that we were able to reschedule these bouts quickly. We now have three stacked events in a row featuring quarterfinal matchups on Showtime, while also adding other incredible fights to each of these cards.”
