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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator kicks off their summer series on Wednesday on Spike TV with Bellator 96, having already lost several fights due to injury. Now, the day of the weigh-ins, they've had to make a change for their four-man heavyweight tournament for the summer.
Vinicius Queiroz has been forced out of his opening round bout with Rich Hale due to a knee injury, and Bellator has tapped heavyweight Ryan Martinez to step in for the fight.
"I'm looking at this opportunity as a blessing," Martinez said. "Rich is a very qualified and tough guy, but I'm ready. I've been training with King Mo and Roy Nelson over the last few months, so I basically went through a normal training camp and haven't stopped training. This is a huge chance for me, and I'm ready."
"Ryan's a huge potential player in our HW division," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "We had him slotted for our next HW tournament, but paid him to be here and make weight as if he was going to fight, just for this reason. And, his back to back camps with Mo and Roy have him ready for tomorrow night's fight."
The bout will take place on Wednesday's main card on Spike TV, along with the two fights in Bellator's summer series light heavyweight tournament, with Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs. Seth Petruzelli in the night's main event.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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