April 23, 2024, 12:15 PM ET
Next month’s Bellator MMA event in Paris has been reduced to one title fight, but the fight card has added the long-awaited debut of a popular French fighter.
PFL, which owns Bellator, announced that undefeated lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov has withdrawn from his May 17 title defense against Alexander Chablis due to an unspecified injury. In a post on social media, the PFL suggested the match would be “rebooked in the near future”.
For Nurmagomedov (17-0, 1 North Carolina), it was supposed to be his return from a six-month suspension after testing positive for prescription drugs containing banned substances last October.
Patchy Mix’s bantamweight title defense against Magomed Magomedov has been elevated from the co-main event to the headline spot at Bellator Champions Series: Paris at Accor Arena. Mix (19-1) will make his first title defense in a rematch with Magomedov (19-3), whom he defeated by submission in 2022.
The fight card also includes the Bellator debut of Cameroon-born Frenchman and former two-time Glory Kickboxing Champion Cedric Doumbe. The opponent has not been decided yet. Doumbe was scheduled to face Derek Anderson, but withdrew shortly after Monday’s announcement due to a leg injury sustained in a bicycle accident.
Doumbe (5-1) is a two-time PFL Europe player, knocking out Jordan Zebo in just nine seconds last September, but suffered an injury TKO loss to Baisangor Chamsuddinov last month. The fight was stopped in the third round after Doumbe complained of a piece of glass stuck in his leg.
