‘Dudu’ Dantas Injured; Bellator 144 Bantamweight Title Fight Against Galvao Postponed

Bantamweight contender Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas has suffered a rib injury during training and has been forced to withdraw from his Bellator MMA title fight against champion Marcos Galvao. Dantas was supposed to challenge for the title in the main event of Bellator 144 on Oct. 23 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Since the Galvao-Dantas match has been yanked from the event, the middleweight championship encounter between Brandon Halsey and Rafael Carvalho will take its place as the headliner. As a result of the circumstances, a preliminary bout between Goiti Yamauchi and Isao Kobayashi has been promoted to the main card.

In addition to the new main event between Halsey and Carvalho, a pair of welterweight skirmishes will be featured on the main card. Brennan Ward will take on Dennis Olson while Michael Page will square off against Charlie Ontiveros.

Bellator 144 will air live on Spike starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT while the undercard will stream live on Sherdog.com beginning at 6:50 p.m. ET/3:50 p.m. PT.