Bellator 205 has been bit by the injury bug, and former champ Pat Curran is off the card and out of his match-up with A.J. McKee.
The hotly anticipated battle between Pat Curran and A.J. McKee will not be taking place at Bellator 205 as expected. MMA Junkie was among the first to report that Curran, a former Bellator featherweight champion, has been forced off the card due to an undisclosed injury. The promotion is currently in the midst of looking for a replacement.
Bellator 205’s main event tilt had been expected to be something of a proving ground for A.J. McKee, son of noted lightweight Antonio McKee. The younger McKee (11-0) has spent his entire career with Bellator, and remains perfect in the cage. Curran (23-7), as a former champion, was expected to test McKee’s readiness for the top of the division.
Instead, the promotion will have to look elsewhere for that test. McKee’s winning streak, it should be noted, is the longest in promotion history.
In addition the McKee, the Bellator 205 card features a key middleweight bout, which could determine the next title challenger in the weight class. In that, grappling experts Rafael Lovato Jr. and John Salter collide in the night’s co-main event.
Bellator 205 takes place September 21 at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. The event will air on the Paramount Network following an online stream of the preliminary card, which you can find on Cageside Press among other websites.
The Bellator 205 main card currently looks as follows:
A.J. McKee vs. TBD
Rafael Lovato Jr. vs. John Salter
Patricky Freire vs. Goiti Yamauchi
Veta Arteaga vs. Denise Kielholtz
