By MMA Junkie Staff | May 11, 2016 7:30 am

Saturday’s Bellator 154 lineup has lost its planned co-headliner following an illness.

PRIDE, Strikeforce and M-1 vet Sergei Kharitonov (23-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has suffered an undisclosed illness, and he’s been forced out of his heavyweight bout with Josh Appelt (12-5 MMA, 3-1 BMMA).

A Bellator official confirmed the scratch with MMAjunkie following an initial report from ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto.

Bellator 154, which goes head-to-head with UFC 198’s preliminary card, takes place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card, which now boasts just four fights, airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Kharitonov, who’s riding a five-fight winning streak with four consecutive knockout victories, was slated for his Bellator debut. With past wins over the likes of UFC champ Fabricio Werdum, former UFC titleholders Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett, and current top UFC contender Alistair Overeem, he’s a significant addition to Bellator’s heavyweight division.

The latest Bellator 154 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike, 8 p.m. ET)

Phil Davis vs. Muhammed Lawal

Adam Piccolotti vs. Ray Wood

Andre Fialho vs. Rick Reger

Saad Awad vs. Evangelista Santos

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Jorge Acosta vs. Joshua Hardwick

Victor Jones vs. Anthony Taylor

Danasabe Mohammed vs. Martin Sano

Steve Gruber vs. Josh Paiva

Doyle Childs vs. Sam Spengler

Jeremiah Labiano vs. Josh San Diego

Alvin Cacdac vs. Darren Uyenoyama

Thomas Diagne vs. Mark Dickman

Stephanie Frausto vs. Jamielene Nievara

Brandon Hester vs. Nick Pica

James Chapman vs. Sean Tucker

For more on Bellator 154, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.