Terry Etim yanked from Bellator lightweight tournament following ACL injury

Newport Beach, Calif. (March 15, 2014) - The Bellator Light Heavyweight World Title will be settled on Friday, March 21st from the Kansas Star Arena, live on Spike TV as Attila Vegh will fight "The Hardcore Kid" Emmanuel Newton in a highly anticipated clash at 205 pounds. The night will also feature the start of the Bellator Lightweight Tournament.

Liverpool native Terry Etim was originally scheduled to compete in his first Bellator Tournament, but Etim has suffered an ACL injury and tournament alternate Tim Welch will now take his place.

The event will broadcast live starting at 9 p.m. EST/ 8 p.m. CT on Spike TV. The preliminary card will be streamed live and free exclusively on Spike.com starting at 6 p.m. CT. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at www.kansasstararena.com or by visiting the Kanas Star Arena Box Office.

Only 23, Welch returns to the Bellator cage after appearing on Spike TV's "Fight Master". The Montana native was originally scheduled to fight on the preliminary portion of the card, but will now face Derek Campos in the opening round of the Bellator Lightweight Tournament.

The full fight card is listed below.

MAIN CARD:
Light Heavyweight World Title: Attila Vegh (29-4) vs. Emanuel Newton (22-7)
Bellator Lightweight Tournament Opening Round: David Rickels (15-2) vs. Patricky Pitbull (11-5)
Bellator Lightweight Tournament Opening Round: Marcin Held (16-3) vs. Rodrigo Cavalheiro (14-2)
Bellator Lightweight Tournament Opening Round: Tim Welch (10-4) vs. Derek Campos (13-3)

PRELIMINARY CARD:
Bellator Lightweight Tournament Opening Round: Brandon Girtz (10-3) vs. Derek Anderson (10-0)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Marcio Navarro (9-9) vs. Bobby Cooper (8-4)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Donnie Bell (8-2) vs. Eric Wisely (21-9)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Tory Bogguess (10-7) vs. L.C. Davis (20-6)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Brian Rogers (10-6) vs. Gary Tapusoa (8-2)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Maurice Jackson (2-1) vs. Daniel Gallemore (2-2)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Israel Giron (17-3) vs. Cody Carrillo (4-7)

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA.