Finalist Joe Riggs Out Due to Injury, Fight Master Final Nixed from Saturday’s Bellator 98

The Fight Master: Bellator MMA final between Joe Riggs and Mike Bronzoulis slated for Saturday’s Bellator 98 has been postponed.

Bellator officials on Tuesday confirmed an initial report about the postponement by Sports Illustrated.

Riggs recently told SI.com that he suffered an orbital bone fracture and detached retina during training about three weeks ago that forced him into surgery.

He has already been cleared to begin training again. The bout will be rescheduled as soon as Riggs is cleared to fight, hopefully before the conclusion of Season 9, which begins on Saturday and ends on Nov. 22.

“I can be ready (to fight) in October or (on) Nov. 2, if they need me,” Riggs told SI.com.

Bellator’s first pay-per-view offering, Rampage vs. Tito, is slated for Nov. 2 in Long Beach, Calif., and already features Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Tito Ortiz, as well as three title bouts.

The three-hour Bellator 98 main card will now feature the middleweight title fight between champion Alexander Shlemenko and Brett Cooper, a co-main event featuring Joe Warren vs. Nick Kirk, and four middleweight tournament quarterfinal bouts.

Bellator 98 also serves as the kickoff to Season 9. Following the special Saturday night premier, the season will then move to a Friday night time slot for the remainder of the season, save for the Nov. 2 pay-per-view offering.

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