Brandon Halsey’s time as the Bellator middleweight champion is over — win or lose.
Halsey missed weight by more than three pounds Thursday for what would have been his title defense against Kendall Grove in the main event of Bellator 137 on Friday night in Temecula, Calif. The fight will go on, but the belt will be vacated if Halsey wins, per a Bellator official. If Grove wins, he will be the new Bellator middleweight champion.
The undefeated Halsey (8-0) came in at 188.1 pounds, 3.1 over the 185-pound maximum for a middleweight title fight. The California native got to the weigh-in venue late, but Bellator was granted an extension by the California State Athletic Commission, according to executive officer Andy Foster. It didn’t end up mattering anyway.
Halsey will have to forfeit 20 percent of his purse — half to the CSAC and half to Grove. Grove (21-14, 1 NC) weighed in at 184.9. Three other fights at Bellator 137 also had competitors miss weight, including the co-main event between Mike Richman and Eduardo Dantas. Richman was 3.2 pounds over the 136-pound welterweight maximum.
Halsey, 28, won the belt from Alexander Shlemenko last September. This would have been his first title defense.
Grove, 32, is a veteran of MMA who got his pro start in 2003. The Hawaiian was in the UFC between 2006 and 2011. He has won three of his last four fights.