It looks like the injury bug isn’t just hitting the UFC; Bellator has been struck as well.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced in an interview following Bellator 83 that War Machine has been forced out of the Welterweight tournament with a broken Fibia, as well as a torn ACL. The man formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver was expected to take part in Bellator’s welterweight tournament which is set to debut on SPIKE TV next January.
“The bad news is War Machine, coming out of a year in prison, got right back in and was stuffing a takedown, literally broke his Fibia and tore his ACL, so he is out for four to six months minimum from a rehab perspective. The good news is we are going to give you that fight. Ultimately we are going to give the fans that fight. It is a spectacular fight and thats the reason everyone wanted to see it. It is just not going to happen when we premiere on Spike TV.”
War Machine’s last fight was in 2011 for UWF, where he beat Roger Huerta by third round TKO. He then went on to sign with Bellator, but unfortunately legal troubles caught up with him. He was expected to face Karl Amoussou in the opening round of the welterweight tournament at Bellator 63. However,he was sentenced to a year in prison for a prior assault in Las Vegas, Nevada.
No word as to who will replace War Machine in the welterweight tournament.
