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Bubba Jenkins has lost only twice in his 13-fight career, and the former collegiate wrestling national champion is aiming to avenge last year's defeat to Georgi Karakhanyan later this month at Bellator 160. When Jenkins fought Karakhanyan the first time (at Bellator 132), that was a co-main event feature. For their rematch on August 26th, it's been rooted to the Spike.com preliminary card stream. Don't believe me? This is Bellator's website for proof.
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Over the past couple of days, Bubba has been bombarded with tweets from fans about this move to the prelims, which has spawned the hashtag #putbubbaonthemaincard.
Yes fight fans, the rumors are true. I have been demoted from co-main event, to main fight card, to prelims...Results will be the same☝
— Bubba Jenkins (@BubbaJenkinsMMA) August 3, 2016
Yes fight fans, the rumors are STILL true. Demoted from co-main event, to PRELIMS... Results will be the same #Putbubbaonthemaincard
— Bubba Jenkins (@BubbaJenkinsMMA) August 4, 2016
We must point out that in Bellator's original press release, which also included the booking of A.J. McKee vs. Henry Corrales, the exact wordage was as follows:
Two high-profile featherweight attractions have been added to the main card of the recently announced "Bellator 160: Henderson vs. Pitbull" event on August 26 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The first pitting the undefeated A.J. McKee (4-0) against Henry Corrales (12-3), and the second newly-announced bout will see Bubba Jenkins (11-2) attempt to avenge a previous loss against Georgi Karakhanyan (24-6-1).
Unlike Jenkins vs. Karakhanyan, McKee vs. Corrales has stayed put on the main card. Presumably this is Bellator's way of promoting their online presence, similar to the way the UFC's made a push for bigger prelim bouts on Fight Pass. This year, Bellator MMA has put Dave Jansen vs. Marcin Held, as well as Justin Lawrence vs. Isao Kobayashi on prelim broadcasts.
For the record, the current main card consists of the Ben Henderson vs. Patricio Pitbull main event, McKee vs. Corrales, Derek Anderson vs. Saad Awad, and Jaimelene Nievara vs. Lena Ovchynnikova.
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