Charles Bennett has been forced to withdraw from next Tuesday's inaugural Israel Fighting Championship event, Mike Ben-Avi, an American representative for the organization, confirmed announced on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour.
Ben-Avi would not divulge why "Kid Kaos" couldn't fight, but sources tell MMA Fighting it was due to the fact that his passport was set to expire during his time in Israel and there wasn't enough time to renew it.
As a result, MMA veteran Thiago Meller (16-3), who lost to Jose Aldo via majority decision in 2006, will step in to fight Ariel Abargel (3-0).
Other notable names scheduled to compete on the card are Frank Trigg, Ricco Rodriguez, Hermes Franca, Rameau Thierry Sokodjou and Shonie Carter.
"This show is not just another promotion. It is a huge show. It's not a small organization, it's a big organization," Ben-Avi said.
He also stated that the organization tried to sign free agents Todd Duffee and Efrain Escudero, but "technical issues" precluded them from competing on the Nov. 9 card.
The event will be held at the Nokia Arena in Tel-Aviv, home of the Maccabi Tel-Aviv basketball team.
The organization is owned by three Israeli businessmen, who according to Ben-Avi, "want to do something like the next big promotion, but in the Middle East.
"People [in Israel] were craving for something like that, and I believe it's going to be a successful one. I believe that the venue, the fact that it's going to be on pay-per-view, and all those names coming, it's a recipe for a good one. And this is not just one event. They're working hard on getting one of those every few months, and like I said, become the Middle East UFC-sized promotion."
Watch Ben-Avi's appearance below. The entire show can be viewed here.
Ben-Avi would not divulge why "Kid Kaos" couldn't fight, but sources tell MMA Fighting it was due to the fact that his passport was set to expire during his time in Israel and there wasn't enough time to renew it.
As a result, MMA veteran Thiago Meller (16-3), who lost to Jose Aldo via majority decision in 2006, will step in to fight Ariel Abargel (3-0).
Other notable names scheduled to compete on the card are Frank Trigg, Ricco Rodriguez, Hermes Franca, Rameau Thierry Sokodjou and Shonie Carter.
"This show is not just another promotion. It is a huge show. It's not a small organization, it's a big organization," Ben-Avi said.
He also stated that the organization tried to sign free agents Todd Duffee and Efrain Escudero, but "technical issues" precluded them from competing on the Nov. 9 card.
The event will be held at the Nokia Arena in Tel-Aviv, home of the Maccabi Tel-Aviv basketball team.
The organization is owned by three Israeli businessmen, who according to Ben-Avi, "want to do something like the next big promotion, but in the Middle East.
"People [in Israel] were craving for something like that, and I believe it's going to be a successful one. I believe that the venue, the fact that it's going to be on pay-per-view, and all those names coming, it's a recipe for a good one. And this is not just one event. They're working hard on getting one of those every few months, and like I said, become the Middle East UFC-sized promotion."
Watch Ben-Avi's appearance below. The entire show can be viewed here.
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