Joe Warren was scheduled to face Nick Kirk tomorrow night at Bellator 98 in the bantamweight tournament semifinals but the bout will not take place as Warren was declared ineligible to compete by the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation.
Bellator announced the decision on Friday morning and the bout between Warren and Kirk has been delayed until further notice.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with one of the best commissioners in the sport in Mike Mazzulli, and after carefully reviewing Joe’s medical documents, everyone agreed to err on the side of caution with the goal of ensuring our fighters safety,” Bellator MMA Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney said.
“It was determined Joe would be unable to compete this Saturday at Mohegan Sun. Joe’s been with us since the beginning and as is the case with every fighter here, it’s incumbent on me to ensure Joe is 100% healthy and medically cleared to fight before he steps into the Bellator cage.”
With the fight being off the card, a lightweight bout between Bellator veteran Patricky Pitbull and Derek Anderson has been promoted to the main card and will be the opening bout of the main card on Spike TV beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
The current Bellator 98: Shlemenko vs. Cooper card is below:
Main Card: (Spike TV – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Alexander Shlemenko (47-7) vs. Brett Cooper (19-8)
Justin Torrey (9-0) vs. Andreas Spang (8-3)
Jeremy Kimball (10-3) vs. Perry Filkins (7-1)
Brian Rogers (10-5) vs. Mikkel Parlo (9-1)
Jason Butcher (6-0) vs. Giva Santana (18-2)
Derek Anderson (9-0) vs. Patricky Pitbull (10-4)
Preliminary Card: (Spike.com – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)
Jeff Nader (5-5) vs. Mike Mucitelli (5-0)
Dave Vitkay (12-12) vs. Brennan Ward (5-1)
Andrew Calandrelli (6-3) vs. Ryan Quinn (7-4-1)
Nick Piedmont (8-3-1) vs. Matt Bessette (11-4)
Glenn Allair (3-1) vs. Rico Disciullo (Debut)
Josh Diekman (12-5) vs. Parker Porter (5-3)