Emelianenko vs. Mitrione Canceled
Fedor Emelianenko will not be fighting on the Bellator 172 card tonight.
Sometime in the hour before the Bellator 172 card was supposed to start, it was reported that Matt Mitrione, who was scheduled to be Emelianenko’s opponent for tonight’s main event, fell ill earlier today and will not be competing.
According to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Bellator officials tried hard to find a replacement on hours’ notice, but they were unsuccessful. Chael Sonnen, Helwani states, called Bellator and pushed for the fight, but for some reason the short-notice fight never came to fruition.
Bellator officials tried very hard, I’m told, to find a replacement but were unsuccessful in doing so. Tough to pull off on just hrs notice.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2017
Chael Sonnen offered to fight Fedor on just hours notice, I’m told. He was ready to go. Bellator was interested but it didn’t come together.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2017
Another name discussed as a late replacement was Oli Thompson, but again, no dice. Doesn’t sound like Fedor was into late replacement idea.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 18, 2017
California State Athletic Commission executive officer Andy Foster says fans can get a refund for the event, so long as they ask before the show starts. The original co-main event, Josh Thomson vs. Patricky “Pitbull” Freire, will now serve as the main event.
This was supposed to be Emelianenko’s Bellator debut, and his first match in the U.S. since 2011.
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