John Salter out, Gerald Harris in to fight Rafael Lovato Jr. at Bellator 198

Rafael Lovato Jr. has a new lastopponent for Bellator 198.

Lovato Jr. (7-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) was set to meet John Salter (15-3 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) in a Paramount-televised main card middleweight bout Saturday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., just outside Chicago., but an undisclosed issue has forced Salter to withdraw. Gerald Harris (23-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has verbally agreed to step in.

MMAjunkie confirmed the switch with a Bellator official after Lovato Jr. announced the change in since-deleted social media posts. The official also said the bout will go on at a 188-pound catchweight.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Lovato Jr. is also unbeaten in his MMA career, with six of his seven wins coming via finish. Three of his victories were under the Bellator banner, including a recent unanimous decision over Chris Honeycutt at Bellator 189.

Harris is a UFC, WSOF and Legacy FC veteran, who makes his Bellator debut on the heels of four consecutive wins. He most recently slammed Matt McKeon in what was set to be his retirement MMA fight.  This isn’t Harris’ first time un-retiring: Back in 2016, he returned at Legacy FC 63 after more than three years away.

Salter was coming off seven straight wins, five of those in Bellator. All of them were finishes. He most recently choked out Jason Radcliffe in the first round of their Bellator 188 encounter after another first-round finish, over fellow UFC vet Kendall Grove.

The new Bellator 198 lineup is as follows:

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

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Frank Mir – heavyweight grand prix opening round
• Emmanuel Sanchez vs. Sam Sicilia
• Rafael Lovato Jr. vs. Gerald Harris
• Neiman Gracie vs. Javier Torres
• Dillon Danis vs. Kyle Walker

For more on Bellator 198, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.