One week after his controversial submission loss to Ben Askren, Ryan Thomas (10-4) will step in to replace the UK’s Jim Wallhead against Jacob McClintock (6-0) at Bellator XV in Connecticut this Thursday. Wallhead is unable to travel to the United States from England due to flight restrictions caused by the Icelandic ash cloud.
‘Judo’ Jim Wallhead Out Of Bellator Welterweight Tournament; Ryan Thomas Gets A Second Chance
Ryan Thomas lost in his fight to Ben Askren when the referee decided that the fact that he was in a submission hold meant that he would eventually submit and stopped the fight. SB Nation covered the events of the fight in full following the event last week.
The real question is how ready can Thomas be to go on a few days notice after having a fight last week. McClintock is no joke, he’s got a very solid submission game and striking game that has plenty of holes. So in short, it’s the same kind of fight for Thomas that he had against Askren, but McClintock’s wrestling game isn’t quite as high level.
While it is unfortunate that we won’t get to see the very fun Wallhead fight, it’s very good to see Thomas getting a second chance. It’d be a great story if he and Askren rematched in the second round.
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