Roy Nelson Says He Will Not Be Paid for Bellator 200 After Mirko Cro Cop’s Injury
Roy Nelson really will go home from London empty handed.
The former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner was disappointed by the news that broke earlier this week that his opponent Mirko Cro Cop had suffered an injury that would force him out of their fight at Bellator 200 on Friday.
To make matters worse, because Cro Cop’s injury happened so close to the event, it was too late for Bellator officials to secure a replacement.
Bellator CEO Scott Coker promised that he was going to speak to Nelson soon so they could figure out the best time to re-book him on another card in the near future.
“Roy will not have a fight on Friday. We will sit down with Roy after this fight and we’ll get him rebooked and we’ll get him busy again,” Coker said.
Perhaps the hardest news to swallow was Nelson confirming that despite flying from Las Vegas to London for fight week that Bellator will not be paying him for the bout against Cro Cop regardless of the last second cancellation.
Nelson claims he already spoke to Bellator about it and the promotion declined to pay him even his show money for the event.
“We’ve talked about it and the answer’s no, I’m not going to be paid from them,” Nelson said. “We’re going to see if they make things right, but I’m not going to get my show money. We already talked about that part.”
Nelson knows that the next major Bellator card probably won’t be until the late part of summer but he hopes to find out more about his return to action sooner rather than later.
If there was one positive to take away from the entire ordeal, Coker did add that Nelson is now the alternate for the ongoing Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. That means if someone is injured or unable to compete, Nelson would be the fighter getting the call to step in as a replacement.
“To me Roy is the guy now so if he gets the slot by default, that’s what it is. Roy will move forward in the tournament if somebody else can’t make it,” Coker said.
Nelson says he will stay in London to enjoy the fight card on Friday before flying back home to the United States.
