Pellegrino Injured, Almeida Now Meets Yamauchi in Featherweight Clash at Bellator 108

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An injury to Kurt Pellegrino has forced Bellator to scrap “Batman’s” planned lightweight showdown with Saul Almeida on Nov. 15.

Pellegrino recently tweeted news of his injury and Sherdog.com verified with a source close to the event that the Bellator 107 contest has been canceled. According to Sherdog’s source, Almeida will now instead collide with featherweight prospect Goiti Yamauchi the following week at Bellator 108.

A UFC lightweight veteran, Pellegrino retired from active competition following a November 2011 technical knockout defeat to Patricky Freire. However, Pellegrino changed his mind this summer, and Bellator announced that “Batman” planned to return to the cage nearly two years after his last Bellator outing.

Instead, Almeida will now face Yamauchi, a 20-year-old who has tasted defeat just once in 16 pro outings, earning 13 submission wins along the way. Yamauchi has won 10 straight fights and made an impressive Bellator debut last month, submitting Musa Toliver with a rear-naked choke in just 61 seconds.

Almeida, meanwhile, hopes to halt a three-fight skid after posting victories in 12 of his first 13 pro outings. “The Spider’s” most recent triumph came in February 2012, when the 24-year-old earned a unanimous decision win over 19-fight pro Jeff Anderson under the CES MMA banner.