Matheus Matos has been forced to withdraw from Bellator 284 after sustaining a knee injury. Josh Hill will be facing Marcos Breno, a promotional newcomer, at the August 12 in Sioux Falls (S.D.). Multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the change to MMA Fighting.
It is still unknown when Mattos can return to competitive fighting. The former The Ultimate Fighter competitor is 1-1 so far under the Bellator banner, rebounding from a decision defeat to Magomed Magomedov with a second-round knockout over Cee Jay Hamilton.
Hill, 3-1 since joining Bellator and 21-4 overall in his MMA career, stopped Jared Scoggins in his most recent bout in December 2021. The 35-year-old Canadian, a former WSOF title challenger and TUF alumni, was expected to compete this past April, but withdrew from a fight with Enrique Barzola due to undisclosed reasons.
Breno (14-2) was originally scheduled to debut in the promotion in June, but Richard Palencia tested positive for COVID-19. Breno finally gets his first chance in Bellator one year after stopping fellow Brazilian prospect Ary Farias in just 56 seconds at LFA in Rio de Janeiro.
A middleweight contest between undefeated Jordan Newman (4-0) and Lance Wright (5-2) is also official for the card, that sees Neiman Gracie battling Goiti Yamauchi in a five-round welterweight main event.
Mike Heck contributed to this report.
