Mirko Cro Cop Undergoes Surgery After Pulling Out of Bellator 200

Little more than a day after it was confirmed that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was forced out of his Bellator 200 headlining bout with Roy Nelson because of a knee injury, the legendary fighter has had surgery.

In a lengthy post on Facebook, Cro Cop explained that he had been in the middle of sparring on his last day of training, when his knee gave out and he fell to the floor in pain. After a lengthy training camp, working hard to prepare for Nelson, he was understandably disappointed and wanted nothing more than to stay in the fight.

Upon getting an MRI of his knee the next day, however, doctors discovered that Cro Cop had torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and suffered cartilage damage. The damage was too severe to try and fight on. He instead opted for surgery at St. Cathedral’s hospital.

Cro Cop expressed his apology, especially to Nelson, and said that he hoped they could re-schedule the rematch once he is healed. The two last fought under the UFC banner in 2011, where Nelson stopped Cro Cop with punches less than two minutes into the third round of the bout.

Nelson is still hoping to remain on Friday’s Bellator 200 fight card in London, but officials have yet to announce whether or not they have been successful in finding a suitable replacement.

This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com