Bellator heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione has been forced out of his upcoming fight against Tyrell Fortune this Friday at Bellator 255.

Mitrione vs. Fortune was set to be the main card opener of Friday’s Bellator 255 show, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Unfortunately, Mitrione is now off the card as he pulled out from the Bellator 255 event for undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com’s Nolan King was the first to report that Mitrione fell off the card. With Mitrione now off the card, Bellator is targeting a rematch between Fortune and Jack May on short notice. They fought to a No Contest last year after low blows ended the fight.

Mitrione (13-8, 1 NC) first came onto the radars of MMA fans in 2009 during The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights. The former NFL football player lost to James McSweeney in the house but was brought into the UFC and made his professional MMA debut at the TUF: Heavyweights Finale in December 2009, defeating Marcus Jones via knockout. He would then go on to win five straight fights, including wins over Kimbo Slice, Joey Beltran, Tim Hague and Christian Morecraft before losing back-to-back fights against Cheick Kongo and Roy Nelson. Overall, Mitrione racked up a 9-5 record in the UFC before he was released.

In 2016, Mitrione signed with Bellator and had since racked up a 4-3, 1 NC record in the organization, with his most notable victory coming via KO over the legendary Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator NYC in June 2017. Mitrione’s last win came in February 2018, when he defeated Nelson in a rematch as part of the Bellator heavyweight tournament. However, he was knocked out by future champion Ryan Bader and overall is winless in his last four.

Who do you think wins the rematch between Tyrell Fortune and Jack May after Matt Mitrione fell off the Bellator 255 card?