“Ok, now its official. I injured my back and have to back off from the fight. Waiting to get in for MRI scan.” says Antti Virtanen shortly after the Carelia Fight promotion posted the news on Facebook. Carelia Fight 11 is this Saturday, and the Finn had been matched with a quality opponent in Estonian Ott Tonissaar.
The promotion has already found a last minute replacement for the lightweight Tonissaar that also put in time in Finland as a member of Primus Fight Team. Tonissaar will face Declan Larken from Northern Ireland, who comes into the bout with 7 wins and 8 losses. The Sudden Impact Combat Club fighter will make weight at 73 KG or 161 lbs for the catchweight bout.
“I hope we still have a great fight.” comments Virtanen.
“So we know what is the problem in the spine. I’m of course disappointed because I can’t fight in front of my home crowd.” Virtanen was coming off a late-replacement loss to the always dangerous Sergej Grecicho in April. The MMA Imatra fighter was on a solid three fight winning streak prior, including wins at Carelia Fight 9 and 10.
Tonissaar heads into Saturday with an 8 win and 2 loss record. The Tartu based fighter is 30 years old and is one of Estonia’s brightest prospects, previously running ad fighting on the RAJU promotion. The lightweight was last in the cage in April of 2014, where he won by decision over Viktor Tomasevic, but has been sidelined with injuries much of his time following the bout.
The Eeva Siiskonen versus Melinda Fabiania has been moved to the main event.
Carelia Fight 11 will take take place on September 5th at Imatran Urheilutalo. MMAViking.com will be reporting live.
