Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney
A scheduled Bellator Season Seven Tournament lightweight final between Marcin Held (15-2) and Dave ‘The Fugitive’ Jansen (18-2) was pulled from last nights Bellator 84 event due to an age restriction with the host venue.
The Venue at the Horseshoe Hammond Casino in Hammond is regulated by the state’s gaming commission which says that anyone entering the casino must be the age of 21 or older, Held is only 20-years old.
Bellator CEO Bjron Rebney noted during the post fight press conference that he had thought all the arrangements had been made allowing Held to compete at The Venue, but was only told a few hours before the match that he would not be allowed in.
“We thought we had done everything necessary to ensure that in this facility, specifically, which has a 21-and-under rule relative to casino guests on the floor, that we’d covered all the bases and made a series of disclosures relative to his age being 20,” Rebney said. “(We) literally just found ourselves in a position where there was a higher authority here from a gaming-commission perspective that was disallowing what had previously been allowed.”
“We’ll dig down and figure out what the situation is, and I guess in the future make sure we don’t schedule any fights for a facility that has an under-21 policy even if we’re following the process and think we’re doing everything right,” he said.
(Quote via MMAjunkie.com)
The two Season Seven finalists will meet, both fighters will be scheduled to meet at an upcoming Season Eight event and will see their match air in front of a bigger audience with the impending move from MTV2 to Spike TV in the New Year.