Bellator 115 Card Finalized with 10 Bouts; Doug Marshall Out of Middleweight Tourney

A failed drug test will keep Doug Marshall out of action next month. | Keith Mills/Sherdog.com

Marshall was slated to meet Dan Cramer in a semifinal matchup as part of the main card of Bellator 115, which takes place April 5 at the Reno Event Center in Reno, Nev.

After earning a title shot by winning the company’s eighth-season tourney at 185 pounds, Marshall was suspended in December by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission when he tested positive for a banned substance in his losing bid against champion Alexander Shlemenko. According to a Wednesday release from Bellator, Marshall was removed from his bout with Cramer “after having his suspension from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission extended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.”

Cramer will instead face Jeremy Kimball in the tournament’s opening round.

Bellator officials also announced the rest of the April 5 bill, which is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between defending champ Vitaly Minakov and former UFC talent Cheick Kongo. Also set for the main card is a welterweight tournament semifinal between Andrey Koreshkov and Sam Oropeza, both of whom secured their spots with emphatic knockout wins in March 14 quarterfinal bouts. Rounding out the televised broadcast will be a non-tournament middleweight tilt pitting Denmark’s Mikkel Parlo against King of the Cage veteran Johnny Cisneros.

The undercard, which streams live online, is topped by a light heavyweight match between talented grappler Kelly Anundson and unbeaten Swiss import Volkan Oezdemir. In a pair of welterweight bouts, Herman Terrado faces Justin Baesman, while James Terry takes on Rick Reeves. The preliminary card is rounded out by heavyweights Freddie Aquitania and Josh Appelt, lightweights Jason Powell and Sinjen Smith, and flyweights Oscar Ramirez and Benito Lopez.