Ashleigh Grimshaw has suffered an unspecified injury and has been pulled from the main event of Bellator 218 according to MMA Junkie, replacing him against Emmanuel Sanchez is going to be Georgi Karakhanyan.
Sanchez (17-4-0) is competing for the first time since losing to Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 209. Sanchez has already defeated Karakhanyan once before, with that win coming by way of majority decision at Bellator 170. Sanchez has suffered four losses as a professional MMA fighter and all of those defeats have come by way of decision.
Karakhanyan (28-8-1-1NC) is returning to Bellator MMA for the first time in over a year and is coming off of a two fight run in Absolute Championship Berkut. Karakhanyan is a former WSOF Featherweight Champion, defeating Lance Palmer to win the gold at the WSOF 7. Karakhanyan has picked up twenty eight wins as a professional MMA fighter and half of them have come by way of decision.
Bellator 218 takes place on Friday, March 22 from the Winstar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma with Emmanuel Sanchez and Georgi Karakhanyan headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on the Paramount Network.