Linton Vassell Withdraws from Bellator 300, Title Bout vs. Ryan Bader Canceled

Bellator 300 is down one title fight.

A heavyweight championship clash pitting Ryan Bader against Linton Vassell has been scratched after Vassell was forced to withdraw from the event due to illness. Sherdog confirmed the news with a promotion official following an initial report from MMAjunkie.com. Bader vs. Vassell was previously announced as the Bellator 300 headliner, but Saturday’s card still features three title bouts on the main card.

Bellator 300 takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, and will proceed with a three-fight main card, per promotion officials. That includes the following: a women’s featherweight title tilt between Cristiane Justino and Cat Zingano; a women’s flyweight championship matchup between Liz Carmouche and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and a lightweight grand prix showdown between reigning 155-pound champ Usman Nurmagomedov and Brent Primus. The main draw airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Bader and Vassell initially squared off in a 205-pound title bout at Bellator 186, with the Power MMA Team standout retaining his belt in a third-round technical knockout victory. Bader claimed heavyweight gold with a first-round stoppage of Fedor Emelianenko in the finals of the Bellator heavyweight grand prix in January 2019. He has since defended the crown with triumphs over Valentin Moldavsky, Cheick Kongo and Emelianenko.

Vassell is 5-1 since moving to heavyweight in 2019. Most recently, he avenged a loss to Moldavsky in a first-round knockout win at Bellator 292 on March 10. “Big Swarm” has also bested Tim Johnson, Tyrell Fortune, Ronny Markes and Sergei Kharitonov in the big man’s division.