Dane Nicolas Dalby (12-0, #4) will not fight Gael Grimaud (19-6) at Cage Warriors 72, as the French fighter has withdrawn due to a back injury. The Sharpshooter from Rumble Sports captured the title in March over Sergei Churilov, and was set to defend the title for the first time tomorrow in Newport, Wales, but now it will happen over a different opponent at CWFC 74 instead. Cage Warriors announced the withdrawal today.
The 29-year-old Dane, who succeeded Cathal Pendred as the CWFC champion was looking to cement his title holding status with a win over the former CWFC welterweight world title.
“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.”
