With Patricio ‘Pitbull’ scratched, Lahat vs Labiano headlines Bellator 188

Bellator 188 at Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel on Nov. 16, 2017 was originally known as “Pitbull vs. Weichel 2.” The rematch followed an exciting fight in June 2015 where Daniel Weichel stepped in for Georgi Karakhanyan as an injury replacement and nearly dethroned the featherweight champion.

Unfortunately at this late hour there wasn’t enough time to find an injury replacement, especially when the one injured is the champion and not the challenger. MMA Fighting confirms that Patricio “Pitbull” Freire is unavailable for the main event due to a knee problem. Even though his brother Patricky volunteered to fight Weichel (or anyone else) at a catchweight Bellator declined.

As such the card in Tel Aviv goes on with the co-main event elevated to the headline spot. Bellator 188 “Lahat vs. Labiano” will now feature Noad Lahat (11-3, 2-1 Bellator) taking on Jeremiah “The Kid” Labiano (11-5, 2-1 Bellator) with each man searching for their third promotional win in Bellator’s stacked 145 lb. division. The revised card is below.

Bellator 188: “Lahat vs. Labiano” (Spike TV):

Featherweight: Noad Lahat vs. Jeremiah Labiano
Middleweight: John Salter vs. Jason Radcliffe
Women's Flyweight: Denise Kielholtz vs. Jessica Middleton
Welterweight: Haim Gozali vs. Arsen Faitovich

Bellator 188 preliminary card (unaired):

Lightweight: Oron Kahlon vs. Julian Maloku
Middleweight: Rami Abuhave vs. Alexander Nikulin
Welterweight: Francisco Silva vs. Shimon Gosh
Women's Featherweight: Olga Rubin vs. Iren Racz
Welterweight: Gad Abisror vs. Alexey Trofimov
Bantamweight: Anthony Nisim Mor vs. Shay Almog
Featherweight: Natanel Parisi vs. Or Eliov
Featherweight: Ivan Solomatov vs. Moshe Ben Chimol
Welterweight: Erik Sianov vs. Matan Levi
Lightweight: Assaf Batan vs. Mor Attias

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