Chris Honeycutt yanked from Bellator 174

Bellator 174: “Coenen vs. Budd” comes to WinStar World Casino and Resort on March 3, 2017. A fight over a year in the making will see MMA legend Marloes Coenen face the streaking Julia Budd, who could get her eighth straight win and the inaugural 145-pound title in the process.

As with the last two Bellator cards though, expected fights for the live broadcast on Spike are changing the same week the event takes place. This time it’s Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove (23-16-1) who gets a new opponent on short notice, previously slated to face Chris “The Cutt” Honeycutt.

Although the reason for Honeycutt’s withdrawal has not been disclosed, Bellator officials did confirm that his replacement is Mike “Biggie” Rhodes (10-4). Rhodes had an unsuccessful three fight stint in UFC which ended in 2014, but has since run off four wins on the minor circuit.

To run his winning streak to five he’ll need to overcome a big size differential in his Middleweight tilt, as Grove stands 6’6” with a 79” wingspan, while Rhodes gives up 5” in both height and reach. Grove has also been improving as a striker, scoring knockouts in two of his last three fights.

The revised card for Bellator 174 as it stands now can be found below.

Bellator 174 "Coenen vs. Budd" (Spike TV):

Featherweight: Marloes Coenen vs. Julia Budd

Welterweight: Brandon Girtz vs. Fernando Gonzalez

Middleweight: Mike Rhodes vs. Kendall Grove

Bantamweight: Steve Garcia vs. Joe Taimanglo

Bellator 174 "Prelims" Card (Spike.com):

Lightweight: Cody Pfister vs. Jonathan Gary

Welterweight: Jason Witt vs. Justin Patterson

Featherweight: Emmanuel Rivera vs. Treston Thomison

Middleweight: Rafael Lovato Jr. vs. Wayman Carter

Heavyweight: Justin Wren vs. Roman Pizzolato

Featherweight: Alexis Dufresne vs. Gabrielle Holloway

Flyweight: Emily Ducote vs. Katy Collins

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