Rick Hawn and Ron Keslar Enter Welterweight Tournament As Riddle, Scanlon Injured
Injuries over the last three weeks have forced Mark Scanlon and Matt Riddle out of Bellator's Season 9 Welterweight Tournament. They have been replaced by Rick Hawn and Ron Keslar. Hawn will now face Herman Terrado, while Keslar will battle Sergio Junior on September 20th from Phoenix's Grand Canyon University. The night will also feature the long awaited Welterweight Tournament Finals as Douglas Lima battles Ben Saunders and the tournament debut of War Machine.
Hawn moves back to welterweight after an impressive run at lightweight that saw the former Olympian win the Season 6 Lightweight Tournament and fight for the Bellator Lightweight Title against Michael Chandler in January. After suffering defeat at the hands of Chandler, Hawn battled long time veteran Karo Parisyan in April and collected another finish with a devastating knockout victory. With a 15-2 record and a Bellator Tournament run already under his belt, Hawn knows he'll have a target on his back, even as a late replacement.
"I'm just excited to back in the Bellator Tournament again and looking forward to fighting at welterweight and making a run in this tournament. I've done it before and I'll do it again. The field is really deep this season, I know it's going to be a tough road."
Keslar joins Bellator riding a four fight win streak, and will try his hand at his first Bellator Tournament. A standout at the famous American Kickboxing Academy, Keslar will have his hands full with Brazilian submission ace Sergio Junior on September 20th.
"We are only three weeks into our season, and it's no secret our tournaments have been hit hard with injury," Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "With that said, it speaks to the depth we've created here to be able to add in talent like Rick Hawn and Ron Keslar less than a week before the fight. This is still an incredibly deep field of talent, and Friday should be a great night of fights."
The full fight card for Bellator MMA can be found below:
MAIN CARD:
Bellator Welterweight Tournament Final: Douglas Lima (24-5) vs. Ben Saunders (16-5)
Bellator Welterweight Opening Round: War Machine (13-4) vs. Vaughn Anderson (16-1-1)
Bellator Welterweight Opening Round: Rick Hawn (15-2) vs. Herman Terrado (11-2)
Bellator Welterweight Opening Round: Brent Weedman (21-8-1) vs. Justin Baesman (14-3)
Bellator Welterweight Opening Round: Ron Keslar (10-3) vs. Sergio Junior (29-11)
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Travis Marx (20-4) vs. Brandon Bender (11-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Bubba Jenkins (4-0) vs. LaRue Burley (2-0)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Beau Tribolet (7-2) vs. Liam McGeary (4-0)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Mighty Mo (3-2) vs. Dan Charles (6-0)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Johnny Buck (12-8) vs. Adam McDonough (8-0)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Joe Yager (5-2) vs. Clifford Starks (8-2)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Efrain Escudero (19-7) vs. Zack Surdyka (5-1)
