The dreaded injury bug has hit Bellator again.
Vinicius Queiroz, who was slated to fight Cheick Kongo in the Bellator heavyweight tournament finals, has been forced to withdraw from the fight due to an ACL injury.
“I was really excited to fight Kongo, but I injured my knee and won’t be able to fight now,” Queiroz told MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz.
“I’m devastated.”
Queiroz said there was no timetable set for his return. The news was first reported by Fox Sports Brasil.
The Kongo-Queiroz tilt was scheduled to take place on Bellator’s Nov. 2 card, which lost its main event on Friday due to injury, however, Kongo tweeted on Saturday that the fight was moved to the main event of the promotion’s Nov. 8 show. MMAFighting.com contacted Bellator to find out what happens to Kongo now, but promotion officials could not be reached.
Queiroz (7-3) knocked out Lavar Johnson in 23 seconds earlier this month, while Kongo (19-8) won his Bellator debut on the same Oct. 4 card when he defeated Mark Godbeer via second-round TKO.