Bellator Champions Series Paris leaves one title contention left.
Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov has withdrawn from his fight with Alexander Chablis due to injury, the PFL announced on Monday.
Nurmagomedov-Chablis was scheduled to headline the event on May 17th at the Accor Arena in Paris. It will be rescheduled for a later date depending on the promotion.
As a result, Patchy Mix's bantamweight title defense against Magomed Magomedov, originally scheduled as a co-main event, will now headline the event.
Nurmagomedov, cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib, was looking to get back on track after his win over former champion Brent Primus at Bellator 300 last October was overturned to a no-contest due to a failed drug test. . Nurmagomedov is undefeated at 17-0 (1 NC) and has been the Bellator lightweight champion since November 2022.
Fellow Russian Chablis improved his promotion record to 5-0 with a unanimous decision win over Patricky “Pitbull” Freire at Bellator 301 last November.
Prior to PFL's acquisition of Bellator at the end of 2023, Nurmagomedov-Chablis was scheduled to be the final of the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix. PFL did not specify that the grand prize of $1 million would be awarded when announcing the match.
In March, Chablis told MMA Fighting's Damon Martin that even though his fight with Nurmagomedov had been announced by the PFL, he was “not entirely sure” whether it would take place. He said no.
