Karakhanyan Out, Weichel In Against Champ Patricio ‘Pitbull’ at Bellator 138
After a 4-0 start with the promotion, Daniel Weichel will fight
for Bellator gold. | Photo: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com
A knee injury has taken Bellator MMA featherweight contender Georgi Karakhanyan out of his scheduled June title bout with champ Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.
Bellator officials Tuesday announced that Germany’s Daniel Weichel will replace Karakhanyan and take on Freire in the co-main event of Bellator 138 “Unfinished Business.” Headlined by a heavyweight bout between Ken Shamrock and “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson, the Spike TV-broadcast event takes place June 19 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Weichel, 30, is unbeaten in his last seven outings and has gone 4-0 since joining Bellator last year. “The Weasel” won the company’s Season 10 featherweight tournament before narrowly outpointing former titleholder Pat Curran in his most recent outing. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Weichel has earned 21 of his 35 wins by way of submission.
Freire, 27, has lost only twice in 25 fights, both of those defeats coming by way of split decision. Last September, the Brazilian avenged one of those losses by claiming the promotions’ 145-pound belt from Curran in a five-round unanimous decision. Freire made his first defense in January, when he he finished another ex-champ, Daniel Straus, via fourth-round rear-naked choke.
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