The lineup for Saturday’s Cage Warriors 72 event has undergone some late changes following the loss of a headliner and title challenger.
Officials today announced that Gael Grimaud (19-6) has pulled out of the welterweight headliner with champ Nicolas Dalby (12-0) due to a lingering back injury.
According to Cage Warriors, Grimaud first notified officials about the lower-back issue on Tuesday. He received an anti-inflammatory injection and was cleared to fight on Wednesday, but today, he told officials the injury “flared up again,” according to today’s announcement.
Cage Warriors 72 takes place at Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. The main card streams on MMAjunkie in North America at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) following prelims on Facebook (2:45 p.m. ET).
As a result, Cory Tait (8-2) and Toni Tauru (9-1-1), who fight for the vacant bantamweight title, have been promoted from the co-main-event slot to headliner status.
According to Cage Warriors, Grimaud, who’s been sidelined most of the past year due to the injury, will no longer get the next shot at the belt.
“Obviously this is extremely unfortunate news to receive on weigh-in day, and I feel particularly disappointed for Nicolas Dalby, who has put in a lot of work in preparing to defend his title here in Wales, and also for the Cage Warriors fans who were looking forward to what was set to be a fantastic bout,” Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan stated. “I wish Gael well in recovering from this injury, but given that this is the second time this year that he has pulled out of this bout due to the same problem, we won’t be rescheduling this bout, so the title shot will now go to the next top contender in our welterweight division.
“I’ve already spoken to Nicolas Dalby, and we’ve agreed that his first title defense will now take place at (Cage Warriors 74) at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Olympic Park on Nov. 15 instead.”
The full Cage Warriors 72 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (MMAjunkie, 4 p.m. ET)
- Cory Tait vs. Toni Tauru – for vacant bantamweight title
- Jack Marshman vs. Che Mills
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Tim Newman
- Steve Dinsdale vs. Lewis Long
- Jordan Desborough vs. Kris Edwards
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 2:45 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Untelevised, 2 p.m. ET)
For more on Cage Warriors 72 and Cage Warriors 74, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Gael Grimaud)
