In the Cage – Pitbull-Nunes, UFN 27 Update, Bellator 98 Update

Each day, The MMA Corner will provide a recap of results, event announcements, fight match-ups, and injuries/cancellations from throughout the world of MMA.

Bellator 99, live from Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., will feature an action packed night, including a night for the featherweights. The season-nine featherweight tournament kicks off with Shahbulat Shamhalaev vs. Akop Stepanyan , Desmond Green vs. Fabricio Guerreiro, and Andrew Fisher vs. Joe Taimanglo. The opening round closes with Patricio Freire facing Diego Nunes in the event’s headliner.

Also, the lone light-heavyweight bout on the card sees Houston Alexander step in as a replacement for former Bellator light-heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu to face Vladimir Matyushenko. The former champ M’Pumbu hoped a win over Matyushenko would soothe the sting of his title loss to Attila Vegh. However, a hand injury will force “Tonton” from the bout, making way for former UFC veterans Alexander and Matyushenko to debut for Bellator MMA in the event’s co-headliner.

With an injury suffered by Sara McMann, the UFC experienced no luck in finding a suitable replacement for Sarah Kaufman. This will force the inaugural Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion from next week’s UFC Fight Night 27 card in Indianapolis. UFC officials anticipate another date and venue in which to reschedule Kaufman vs. McMann.

A broken hand will force Doug Marshall from his Bellator 98 bout with Bellator midddleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. In the place of the season-eight middleweight tournament winner steps the man Marshall defeated for the title shot, “Fudoshin” Brett Cooper. Cooper initially planned to rebound from the loss by facing Andreas Spang, but with this upcoming title shot, undefeated Justin Torrey takes his tournament spot.

Ryan Jimmo will come into hostile territory once again when he returns to the U.K. for UFC Fight Night 30 on Oct. 26. Jimmo, off the heels of a win over Igor Pokrajac, faces off with undefeated Jimi Manuwa, who scored a convincing win over Cyrille Diabate at UFC on Fuel TV 7. The bout’s placement on the card remains unknown.

An injury will force Marcelo Guimares out of UFC Fight Night 28 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on Sept. 4, but his intended foe, Keith Wisniewski will still see welterweight action on the card. He meets debuting Ivan “Batman” Jorge in the bout, which marks his first since a UFC 145 loss to Josh Neer. Jorge, meanwhile comes off of a six-fight winning streak which features six-straight submission wins.