Yoel Romero out of bout vs. Anthony Johnson, Bellator grand prix

The Bellator light heavyweight grand prix has lost perhaps its most highly anticipated bout, as Yoel Romero was not cleared to compete, after failing a medical examination for his scheduled bout against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

The two fighters, both recent signings by the promotion, were promptly scheduled to fight each other in the first round of Bellator’s light heavyweight grand prix, in what would have been a fight that many fans were clamoring for.

The promotion released the following statement on the situation:

Yoel Romero did not clear pre-fight medical testing and as a result, his Bellator MMA debut against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has been postponed. Bellator will confirm a tournament alternate to face “Rumble” Johnson in the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix as soon as possible.

Bellator 258: Archuleta vs. Pettis will go on as scheduled on Friday, May 7, live on Showtime at 9p ET/6p PT. The event features the Bellator bantamweight world championship main event between champion Juan Archuleta and Sergio Pettis, a welterweight bout pitting Michael “Venom” Page against Derek Anderson, and a lightweight tilt between Patricky “Pitbull” and Peter Queally. Additional fights for the main card are to be announced.

Romero will become eligible to reapply for clearance to compete in the coming months, and we look forward to seeing him make his Bellator debut in the near future. Bellator MMA will look to reschedule the highly anticipated Johnson versus Romero matchup at a future date.

It is not yet known who will step in to replace Romero to fight Johnson on short notice.