Bellator's Rad Martinez-Shahbulat Shamhalaev Tourney Final Moved to Season 8

BELLATOR'S RAD MARTINEZ-SHAHBULAT SHAMHALAEV TOURNEY FINAL MOVED TO SEASON 8
BY MMAJUNKIE.COM STAFF ON DEC 11, 2012 AT 2:00 PM ET

This past week, food poisoning delayed Bellator Fighting Championships' Season 7 featherweight tournament final.

Today, Bellator officials announced something a bit more noble will push Rad Martinez (14-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC) vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev (11-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) to 2013.

"Rad and Shamhalaev will fight sometime during season 8," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said on a conference call promoting the company's upcoming programming. "It will be an epic fight, and we're glad to have it. Rad's just not able to make it work timing-wise, and I completely, 100 percent respect what he's got to tend to."

Martinez and his brother are the primary caretakers of their father, who suffered severe brain damage in a car accident. Their story was featured in a 2011 episode of ESPN's "Outside the Lines." It's that responsibility that prevents Martinez from fighting at this week's Bellator 84 event despite an initial announcement to the contrary.

"I spoke too soon at the show last Friday," Rebney said. "Rad is saddled with responsibilities that are admirable. None of us can probably understand the depth and the level of what he's got to deal with. Post-fight, I talked to Rad and got he and his brother on the phone. We just sat down and talked for a while. Literally, Rad is not in a position to be able to fight – not because he's not ready, not because he's not in incredible shape, not because he didn't prepare but simply because he's got to take care of his dad.

"Between his brother Levi and Rad, that is an epic requirement, an epic responsibility. Their tending to him is an admirable on a level that's hard to talk about, and Levi was going to be out of town, and there literally is nobody else that can care for his father the way his dad needs to be taken care of, so he's not going to be able to make it this Friday."

Finalists Martinez and Shamhalaev were originally expected to meet at this past weekend's Bellator 83 event in New Jersey. However, New Jersey Athletic Control Board inspectors saw Shamhalaev vomit in the locker room, and the fight was scratched just moments before it was scheduled to take place. Bad fruit was to blame for the food poisoning, Rebney later said.

Bellator officials did not reveal a targeted date for the rescheduled encounter, but the company's 12-week Season 8 begins on Jan. 17. The Season 7 tournament final winner earns $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.