An illness has forced Anthony
Johnson to withdraw from his Bellator light heavyweight grand
prix semifinal bout against Vadim
Nemkov on Oct. 16.
Johnson will not remain in the tournament going forward. Nemkov vs.
Johnson was slated to headline Bellator 268 at the Footprint Center
in Phoenix, Ariz., with the Russian’s 205-pound belt on the line.
Nemkov is expected to remain on the card against an alternate
opponent.
MMAjunkie.com was first to report the news of Johnson’s
withdrawal from the card.
Johnson later released a statement regarding his health issues.
“Really wish I could go into detail about how ill I truly am,”
Johnson wrote on Instagram. “Just know I need as many prayers as I
can get and I’ll see you in 2022 God willing… Never been this
afraid of anything in my life but I’ve remained strong with the
support of friends and family.”
“Rumble” returned to the cage following a four-year retirement at
Bellator 258, where he defeated
Jose Augusto Azevedo Barros via second-round knockout in the
quarterfinals of the light heavyweight grand prix on May 7.
“Not asking for anything but prayers,” Johnson added in the caption
of his post. “See you in 2022 hopefully. This is gonna be a battle
and I’m gonna have to dig deeper than I ever have before. Love you
all. NOT COVID.”
Bellator 269 will also include the other half of the light
heavyweight bracket, as former 205-pound champ Ryan Bader
squares off against fellow UFC veteran Corey
Anderson.