Roy Nelson and Mirko Cro Cop were originally expected to compete in a rematch at Bellator 200, but Cro Cop suffered a serious knee injury and was pulled from the card.
Cro Cop has since recovered and is ready to battle Nelson at Bellator 216, but Nelson wonders how his opponent was able to recover so fast.
“Cro Cop is back being on a streak, but I don’t know what that has to do with,” Nelson said at the Bellator 216 media day (via MMA Junkie). “When he pulled out of my fight, he had a fight, he had knee surgery, he had rehab, and he was able to come back in three or four months. I think his docs need to come over here for the NFL and some of these guys that get messed-up knees, they could be back in a week.”
Nelson defeated Cro Cop in their first encounter at UFC 137 in October of 2011.
Both fighters were recently part of random drug tests before Bellator 216 and Nelson would like to get those results before competing at the event.
“They pulled me an extra day early just to do a pee test,” Nelson said. “I hope the results come back before the fight, because if it doesn’t come back before the fight, I don’t even know why they did the test. Wasted resources.”
Bellator 216 takes place on Saturday, February 16 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut with Paul Daley and Michael Page headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on DAZN.
