Less than two weeks before Bellator MMA makes its promotional debut in London, England; British light heavyweight, Linton ‘The Swarm’ Vassell (16-5, 1 NC), has been forced to pull out of his scheduled bout with Francis Carmont (24-11) due to a training injury.
In a statement issued via his facebook page, Vassell said he was disappointed not to be fighting in front of his British fans, but he could make a return this fall.
“I can only apologise to all my fans that brought (sic) tickets to come and support me,” said Vassell. I clashed heads at training a few weeks back, I continued training but my eye actually got infected which pushed my healing time back, stopped me from training. I will be back REAL SOON, hoping for a September return.”
The statement by Vassell was accompanied by a graphic picture of the cut in question.
Bellator has announced that Carmont will now fight Lukasz ‘Hitman’ Klinger (7-2) at 205lb. Klinger is no stranger to fighting in the UK where he has fought professionally over the last few years. This short-notice fight will be the Polish fighter’s debut for Bellator MMA.
Bellator 158 is scheduled to take place at the O2 Arena in London, England on July 16th and headlined by Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley vs. Douglas Lima.
