Bellator MMA’s first event of 2021 has already suffered an unfortunate setback. According to MMA Fighting, Matt Mitrione has been forced to bow out of his scheduled Heavyweight fight against Tyrell Fortune, which was set to go down at Bellator 255 this Friday (April 2, 2021).
Mitrione — ranked No. 8 on the official Bellator MMA rankings — was hoping to pick up a much-needed win after losing three of his last four fights. “Meathead’s” last victory came against Roy Nelson in Feb. 2018 at Bellator 194.
Fortune (No. 6), meanwhile, is coming off a win over Said Sowma at Bellator 251 in Nov. 2020. His match up against May will be a rematch of their initial encounter at Bellator 245 in Sept. 2020 ended in a “No Contest” due to May being unable to continue as a result of an inadvertent low blow. May is just 1-4-1 in his last five bouts.
Bellator 255 will air exclusively on Showtime and will feature a championship rematch between Featherweight champion Patricio Freire taking on Emmanuel Sanchez in a semifinal match of the Featherweight Grand Prix. Also, Usman Nurmagomedov will make his debut for the promotion when he takes on Mike Hamel in Lightweight action, while Roger Huerta returns to take on Christopher Gonzalez.
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