Turns out former UFC champion, grappling ace, and assumed Asgardian mercenary Josh Barnett is not immortal. Barnett, who was set to make his Bellator debut on December 21, found himself sidelined by the Hawaiian athletic commission’s medical team. He was scheduled to fight Ronny Markes.
Barnett reportedly woke up Thurday with a fever, chills, and a heinous kind of flu-like pain. The fighter took “every allowable medication” on the fight promotion’s list of approved substances to try and get cleared for the match, but couldn’t earn the doctor’s green light. Bellator called whatever he’s come down with a “severe illness.”
“My kidneys feel like someone’s been hitting them for 12 rounds,” Barnett said.
Barnett addressed the disappointing cancellation in a message to fans, looking (with all due respect to Josh) like he’d spent the week in a frigid Siberian gulag:
Here’s hoping this well-documented savage heals up and gets that debut soon.
