Bellator officials have announced that Rob Emerson (12-10) has been focred to withdraw from Bellator 97 with an undisclosed injury. Emerson’s scheduled opponent Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (17-2) will instead face former RFA Featherweight champion Jared “Demon Eyes”Downing (9-2).
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire won the season 4 Bellator Featherweight tournament by defeating Georgi Karahanyan (TKO), Wilson Reis (TKO), and Daniel Straus (UD). “Pitbull” would get his earned title shot at Bellator 85 and would fall just short losing a split decision to champion Pat Curran.
After a Shark Fights 20 loss to Roberto Vargas, Jared Downing would join Resurrection Fighting Championships and win 3 consecutive bout over Eix Marriott, Alessandro Ferreira, and Jordan Rinaldi all by decision; and even captured the RFA Featherweight title. Downing is now coming off losing the RFA title to Lance Palmer by split decision.
Bellator 97 takes place on July 31 at the Santa Anna Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico; and is headlined by 2 title fights with Dave Rickles Challenging Mihael Chandler for the Bellator Lightweight title and Andrey Koreshkov challenges Ben Askren for the Bellator Welterweight title.
