Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic pulls out of Bellator 200 main event with undisclosed injury
Rafael Carvalho-Gegard Mousasi will be bumped up to headline Friday's card from London
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1 min read
An undisclosed injury to heavyweight legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has forced Friday's Bellator 200 card in England to undergo a last-minute facelift.
Bellator MMA confirmed Monday's initial report from The Telegraph's Gareth A. Davies, announcing a change to the main event of the historic card set to take place at London's Wembley Arena. Filipovic, 43, was set to make his promotional debut against Roy Nelson in a bout to determine an alternate for the Bellator World Grand Prix heavyweight tournament.
The 41-year-old Nelson (23-15), who lost his first-round matchup to Matt Mitrione by majority decision in February, is expected to stay on the card against a new opponent. A middleweight championship bout between Rafael Carvalho and Gegard Mousasi will move up from the co-main event slot to headline the card.
"Mirko 'Cro Cop' has suffered an undisclosed injury and has been forced off the card, and we are looking at replacements, though for the time being Carvalho-Mousasi has been moved to the main event and British standout Michael 'Venom' Page against American David Rickels has been elevated up to the co-main event fight," Bellator senior director of communications Ryan Grab told The Telegraph.
The inclusion of Filipovic (36-11-2, 1 NC) on the card was considered a controversial move to begin with considering his UFC career came to an end in 2015 following a two-year USADA suspension for performance-enhancing drugs that was never served. Instead, Filipvoic headed to Japan, where he ran off a five-fight win streak under the Rizin banner.
Friday's new main event will feature the first Bellator title opportunity for Mousasi (43-6-2), a big-name free agent pickup from UFC who struggled to win his promotional debut last October when he overcame an eye injury to claim a disputed decision win over Alexander Shlemenko. Carvalho (15-1) will look for the fourth defense of the 185-pound title he won by stopping Brandon Halsey in 2015.
The card also features a light heavyweight bout between former champion Phil Davis and Linton Vassell.
