(Cardiff, United Kingdom | Friday, September 12, 2014) – The CWFC welterweight world title bout between Gael Grimaud and champion Nicolas Dalby has been removed from tomorrow’s CWFC 72 card.
Grimaud has withdrawn from the bout due to an injury in the lumbar region of his back, which has postponed Dalby’s highly-anticipated inaugural defence of his belt.
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship officials were informed of Grimaud’s decision shortly before 10am today at the CWFC hotel in Cardiff, Wales.
Grimaud first made the promotion aware of the injury on Tuesday, but after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection to treat the problem, the 34-year-old Frenchman was passed fit to compete by a doctor on Wednesday.
However, Grimaud claimed that the injury flared up again last night, and made the decision this morning to withdraw from tomorrow’s bout at the Newport Centre.
The same injury has kept Grimaud on the sidelines since his most recent bout last October, also forcing him out of a planned meeting with Nicolas Dalby at CWFC 66 back in March.
“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,” said Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan.
“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 defence will now take place at CWFC 74 at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Olympic Park on November 15 instead.”
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