Breaking: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione Cancelled At Bellator 172

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If you needed a reason to watch NBA All-Star Saturday instead of Bellator 172, you just got one. Saturday’s main event between heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Mitrione has been cancelled just hours before showtime.

According to MMAFighting.com, Mitrione was pulled from the scrap after becoming ill.

At the time of publication, Bellator had yet to officially announce the cancellation of the fight.

Bellator reportedly scrambled to find Emelianenko a last-second substitute, including Chael Sonnen who is in attendance as an observer, but the promotion opted to save “The Last Emperor” for another day.

It is unknown what illness forced Mitrone to withdraw.

Bellator is hoping to reschedule Emelianenko’s promotional debut within a few months.

The lightweight shootout between Patricky Freire and Josh Thomson, who were initially slated to co-headline the show, now gets top billing.

It is unknown if Emelianenko and Mitrione will be paid their show money.

SAP Center in San Jose, California hosts Bellator 172. Spike TV airs the Fedor-less main card starting at 9PM ET/PT.

Here is the show’s revised lineup:

Preliminary Card:

(5thRound.com 7PM ET/4PM PT)

Gaston Bolanos vs. Abner Perez

Roque Reyes vs. Justin Tenedora

J.J. Okanovich vs. Paradise Vaovasa

Matthew Ramirez vs. Jeremy Murphy

Bobby Escalante vs. Anthony Do

Carlos Eduardo Rocha vs. Danasabe Mohammed

Juan Cardenas vs. Luis Vargas

Cesar Gonzalez vs. Nikko Jackson

David Douglas vs. James Terry

Francisco France vs. Anatoly Tokov

Main Card:

(Spike TV 9PM ET/PT)

Mauricio Alonso vs. Josh Koscheck

Cheick Kongo vs. Oli Thompson

Patricky Freire vs. Josh Thomson