Adam Borics has seen his two previous opponents for Bellator 196 in James Gallagher and Manuel Gaxhja both pull out of the event due to injury. The third time could prove to be the charm for Borics, because Teodor Nikolov has agreed to step in on short notice to face him at the event.
Borics (6-0-0) has competed just once in the Bellator MMA promotion, defeating Anthony Taylor by first round submission at Bellator 177. Borics is also returning to action for the first time in almost a year, as his last battle at Bellator 177 took place on April of 2017. Borics also competed in the Final Fight Championships promotion, winning two of the three fights there by way of decision.
Nikolov (11-1-0) is going to be making his Bellator MMA debut in this bout and does so on the strength of a six fight winning streak. Nikolov has yet to see any of his professional MMA fights go the distance and only two bouts made it into the second round. Nikolov is coming off of a four fight run in the International Submission Fighting Association, earning three victories by way of submission.
Bellator 196 takes place on Friday, April 6 from the Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary with Ben Henderson and Roger Huerta headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs via tape delay on the Paramount Network.