Ed Ruth has received a new opponent with less than two weeks to go until Bellator 196.

With Laszlo Furko (6-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) unable to compete due to an injury, Ruth (4-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) will now fight promotional newcomer Ion Pascu (17-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in a 175-pound catchweight contest.

A Bellator official informed MMAjunkie of the switch.

Bellator 196 takes place April 6 at BOK Hall in Budapest, Hungary, and it airs on Paramount via same-day delay.

Ruth, a three-time NCAA Division I collegiate wrestling champion, started off his MMA career in a 192-pound catchweight bout. Since then he’s slowly thinned down to the middleweight division, and he had originally planned on debuting at welterweight at Bellator 196. Given the last-minute switch, though, the 27-year-old will fight at a catchweight, and his official 170-pound debut will have to wait.

After his successful career in wrestling, “Easy Ed” has made a relatively smooth transition to MMA. Ruth won all four of his fights by TKO, which included a second-round finish of UFC veteran Chris Dempsey in his most recent bout – at Bellator 186 in November.

Pascu, a 35-year-old Romanian fighter, is a veteran of the European MMA scene. He’s fought in various promotions around the continent and has won eight of his pat 10 fights dating back to August 2014. He now makes his Bellator debut.

The latest Bellator 196 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Paramount same-day tape delay, 9 p.m. ET)

Benson Henderson vs. Roger Huerta Adam Borics vs. TBA Denise Kielholtz vs. Lena Ovchynnikova Giorgio Belsanti vs. Brian Moore Ion Pascu vs. Ed Ruth

PRELIMINARY CARD (Untelevised, 3:30 p.m. ET)

Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Mehmet Yueksel

For more on Bellator 196, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.