BAMMA middleweight champion Tom Watson (14-4) has been scratched from next month's BAMMA 7 headliner with a back injury.
In his place steps Bellator veteran "Judo" Jim Wallhead (21-6), who now meets Frank Trigg (21-8) in a non-title fight at the Sept. 10 event.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the switch with sources close to the event.
The event takes place at The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. The event streams live online.
The extent of Watson's injury wasn't immediately known.
His replacement, Wallhead, recently competed in a Bellator season-four welterweight tournament. However, he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Olympian Rick Hawn in the opening round of the eight-man tournament. The loss snapped the British fighter and judo black belt's eight-fight win streak. It also accounted for just his second loss in 14 fights and nearly five years.
Trigg, a two-time UFC title challenger, briefly considered retirement following his latest UFC stint, which included losses to Josh Koscheck and Matt Serra. However, the PRIDE and Strikeforce vet opted to keep fighting and since has scored TKO victories over Roy Neeman at Israel FC 1 and John Phillips at BAMMA 6.
Also scheduled for the BAMMA 7 card are lightweight champ Rob Sinclair (10-2) vs. Leonardo Santos (9-3), "The Ultimate Fighter 8" winner Efrain Escudero (15-3) vs. Tim Radcliffe (11-4), and Matt Ewin (22-9-1) vs. Valentino Petrescu (11-2).
Source: Champ Watson out, Wallhead in against Trigg in BAMMA 7 headliner
