With Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (17-1 MMA, 5-1 BFC) recovering from a second hand surgery, fellow tournament winner Pat Curran (16-4 MMA, 6-1 BFC) will get the next shot at Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren (7-2 MMA, 5-1 BFC).

Bellator CEO and chairman Bjorn Rebney today confirmed the plans with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

According to Rebney, Curran has leapfrogged Freire in the division's pecking order. His title fight with Warren in now targeted for a currently unannounced February event – one that could also feature Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez (22-2 MMA, 7-0 BFC) vs. DREAM champ Shinya Aoki (29-5 MMA, 0-0 BFC).

Freire, who won the season-four tournament, was supposed to get the next title shot ahead of "Summer Series" tourney winner Curran. However, a planned Bellator 47 rematch between Warren and Freire was canceled when the latter suffered a broken hand. Unfortunately, Rebney said the Brazilian fighter, who dropped a split decision to Warren in the season-two tourney finale, has suffered complications from that injury.

"Pitbull's had some problems with his hand," Rebney said. "We got him in to see the right people in Southern California. They re-looked at this hand and did another surgery recently. The prognosis is very good, but given what's occurred, he can't hit anything for 90 days."

While he recovers, Curran will take his title-fight slot. Freire will then fight the winner of Curran vs. Warren in season six, which is expected to kick off in March or April.

"My mindset has been on 'Pitbull,' so I sort of have to hit the reset button," Warren said. "This is a five-round fight, so I need to win every round, technique needs to be solid, need to execute and push the pace. Pat is a lot bigger, so I just need to stay safe but look for that finish."

Warren recently dropped a weight class and competed in the season-five bantamweight tourney, but Alexis Vila eliminated him in the opening round. He'll now return to the featherweight division and will look to defend his title for the first time when he meets Curran.

"The Vila fight was super explosive, and Joe just got caught with a shot, just like anyone can," Curran said. "I can use it as an advantage because the 'shield' is now broken, and he is jumping into this fight fairly soon, so he may still be broken."

Rebney said no other details are set for the February show, which will be one of an expected two "offseason" events taking place between the fifth season, which concludes later this month, and season six. However, he said the offseason shows will continue to air on MTV2 (and in high-definition on EPIX) with prelims streaming on Spike.com.

Additionally, another super fight could be part of the February event. If Alvarez successfully defends his title next week against Michael Chandler at Bellator 58, Rebney expects to book a long-awaited rematch with Aoki, who delivered Alvarez the only loss in his past 13 fights (at DREAM "Dynamite!! 2008"). Alvarez long has pined for the rematch, and Rebney got tentative approval from DREAM for Aoki to compete for Bellator.

Since the duo's first meeting, Alvarez and Aoki (along with Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez) have emerged as the best lightweight fighters currently not under contract to the UFC. Neither fighter's belt would be on the line in the cross-promotion super fight.

"Eddie calls me virtually on a weekly basis asking about the fight," Rebney said. "It'd be great if we could get both fights on that card. It'd be a great show."


Source: With 'Pitbull' injured, Pat Curran gets Bellator champ Joe Warren in February