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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Just when it seemed Bellator's featherweight division would be moved along, it appears they'll be backed up with challengers once again.
After Pat Curran defeated Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, he was set to take on the next challenger in Daniel Straus at Bellator 95 in April. Unfortunately, Straus has suffered a broken hand, taking him out of the fight and delaying his return for the time being.
MMAJunkie.com first reported the injury, stating that Bellator officials are looking to find Curran a replacement opponent for the April 4 card.
That could be a rematch with "Pitbull" after their five round battle on Bellator's Spike TV debut in January, or it could be Shabulat Shamhalaev, who finally completed the season seven tournament last week when he knocked out Rad Martinez.
Penick's Analysis: Bjorn Rebney has said they're done with the one-off, non-title fights for their Champions, so that would leave Shamhalaev and Pitbull as the only options at the moment. With the season eight tournament in full swing, another fighter will emerge in that succession as well, but Straus' injury certainly comes at an unfortunate time.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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