Bellator 98 took place on September 7, 2013 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV. It marked the season debut of season nine.
Background Bellator 98 was supposed to feature a
Bellator Middleweight Championship bout between
Alexander Shlemenko and Season 8 Middleweight Tournament Winner
Doug Marshall. However, on August 19 Marshall was forced out of the title bout due to an injury and was replaced by Season 8 Middleweight Tournament Runner Up
Brett Cooper. The
Fight Master: Bellator MMA finale between
Joe Riggs and
Mike Bronzoulis was expected to take place at this event. However, on September 3, it was revealed Riggs has sustained a significant eye injury and the bout was postponed indefinitely. The fight was later scheduled for
Bellator 106.
Dan Cramer was originally scheduled to face
Perry Filkins in the Middleweight tournament opening round, but withdrew from the match and was replaced by Jeremy Kimball.
Joe Warren was scheduled to face Nick Kirk on this card. However, on the Friday before the event, Warren was removed for undisclosed medical reasons. The fight was later scheduled for
Bellator 101 Andreas Spang was originally scheduled to face
Justin Torrey in the Middleweight tournament opening round, but was declared unfit to fight by the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation. He was replaced by
Brennan Ward, who originally was supposed to face
Dave Vitkay on the preliminary card.
Andrew Calandrelli was originally scheduled to face
Ryan Quinn, but was removed from the card and replaced by
Brylan Van Artsdalen. The card featured all the Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinal bouts.
Results ==Bellator 99==