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Two expected bouts for events in Bellator Fighting Championships' upcoming third season will no longer take place, as both UFC vet Yoshiyuki Yoshida and featherweight Chas Skelly are out of their bouts with Dan Hornbuckle and Georgi Karakhanyan, respectively.
Yoshida was expected to face Hornbuckle on the Bellator 25 card on August 19 at the Chicago Theater, but visa issues will not allow him to make the fight, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com. He could still fight for the organization in September, however.
According to a separate report at MMAJunkie.com, Skelly, who was announced this morning as an opponent for Karakhanyan on the Bellator 28 event in New Orleans on September 9, has suffered a foot injury that has forced him out of the fight. It was supposed to be a qualification bout for a featherweight tournament to come during the fourth season, and a replacement opponent is being sought.
Bellator's third season begins on August 12, and the 12 week season will air live or via tape delay every Thursday on Fox Sports Net.
Penick's Analysis: The loss of Yoshida is definitely unfortunate, as the bout with Hornbuckle could have been a very entertaining welterweight fight. Karakhanyan will get a different opponent, surely, and Skelly could still make it to the fourth season tournament depending on the severity of his injury. If Yoshida can make it for a bout in September, he may still get to face Hornbuckle, depending on what Bellator can book.
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