Bellator 181 sees Brittney Elkin step in to face Amanda Bell, Katy Collins vs. Bruna Vargas added

Featherweight prospect Brittney Elkin is set to make her Bellator debut on Friday night at “Bellator 181: Campos vs. Girtz 3” in Thackerville, Okla.

Elkin (3-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) steps in on short notice to face Amanda Bell (4-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a rematch from April 2014. Bell’s original opponent for Friday’s card, Alexis Dufresne, withdrew from the event due to undisclosed reasons, leaving an opportunity for Elkin to sign on for her most high-profile fight to date.

Also confirmed for the Bellator 181 preliminary card is a flyweight matchup between proven finisher Katy Collins (6-2 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) and highly-touted Brazilian Bruna Vargas (2-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), who seeks redemption after dropping her Bellator debut this past year.

MMAjunkie recently confirmed the updated fight bookings with Bellator officials.

Elkin has won two of her past three fights, including a decision victory over Bellator contender Gabrielle Holloway. The Colorado native makes a quick return to action after scoring a first-round TKO win two weeks ago under the Sparta Combat League banner.

Bell halted a two-fight losing skid by defeating Holloway in a February bout for King of the Cage, which earned her a Bellator contract and a spot on Friday’s card. She will look to make it two-for-two against Elkin, whom she submitted with a second-round rear-naked choke in the pair’s first meeting three years ago.

Collins racked up a stellar five-fight winning streak – including four first-round stoppages – leading into her bout with top Bellator flyweight contender Emily Ducote at Bellator 174 in March, but she succumbed to a Ducote rear-naked choke very late in the opening round.

Like her opponent, Vargas also looks to get back in the win column after suffering a loss to Ducote at Bellator 159. She has not fought in almost a full year, but plans to get back into contention in Bellator’s ever-expanding 125-pound women’s division with a win on Friday.

In addition to the Elkins-Bell and Collins-Vargas preliminary-card bouts, Bellator 181 includes a main-card flyweight showdown between the aforementioned Ducote (5-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) and promotional mainstay Jessica Middleton (2-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA).

The Bellator 181 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike, 9 p.m. ET)

• Derek Campos vs. Brandon Girtz
• Kendall Grove vs. John Salter
• Emily Ducote vs. Jessica Middleton
• Steve Garcia vs. Joe Warren

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 6 p.m. ET)

• Romero Cotton vs. Aaron Rodriguez
• Rafael Lovato vs. Mike Rhodes
• Justin Lawrence vs. Treston Thomison
• Valentin Moldavsky vs. Carl Seumanutafa
• Jordan Howard vs. Johnny Marigo
• Andre Fialho vs. A.J. Matthews
• Amanda Bell vs. Brittney Elkin
• Kemmyelle Haley vs. Logan Storley
• William Florentino vs. Jonathan Gary
• E.J. Brooks vs. Guilherme Vasconcelos
• Katy Collins vs. Bruna Vargas
• Guillermo Gonzalez vs. Fernando Trevino

For more on Bellator 181, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.