Why Cal Ellenor isn’t headlining Bellator Europe 4
“He basically told me it was the start of brain illness, and it wasn’t a case of what could happen, but it was a case of what will happen.”
English Cal Ellenor recently pulled out of the main event fight vs. James Gallagher at Bellator Europe 4 on September 27, in Dublin, Ireland. The cause was widely cited as injury, but in a recent message on his social network, Ellenor offered a more detailed explanation.
It’s sobering.
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A post shared by Cal Pacino (@calpacinomma) on Sep 18, 2019 at 11:16am PDT
Responsible promoters in the UK & Ireland use the non-profit Safe MMA to handle fighter medical requirements. Ellenor was given a brain scan, Safe MMA flagged it, and directed the fighter to visit a neurologist.
Basically he looked at my scans and told me I had a gap in my frontal lobe that wasn’t there previously, and that I also had three black spots of damage on the right side of my brain, said Ellenor, as transcribed by Simon Head for MMA Junkie. He basically told me it was the start of brain illness, and it wasn’t a case of what could happen, but it was a case of what will happen. His advice was he doesn’t want me to ever take another shot again. He doesn’t think it’s a wise move to even continue training at all, never mind fight. Obviously I was devastated about it.
He said it didn’t matter if I got his signature or not, the doctors would still have to see the assessment from my scan, and none of them would be happy to let me fight because I am high risk. So he left me there telling me I have to retire.
I just want to give a massive apology to James Gallagher. It’s not ideal training for someone, having a whole camp and specifically getting people in. He’s been bringing tall kickboxers in for sparring, so I want to say sorry to him about the whole situation. It’s a nightmare for him as much as it is for me.
I’ve put my life into this and killed myself and really did believe this was my opportunity to change my life. But something good will come from it, so thanks [to my friends and family] for sticking by us.
Whatever lies for my future I’m not sure yet, as far as fighting goes. But hopefully, I can get some kind of resolution and get it all sorted. Either way, if that’s it, massively thanks for helping us out the whole time, and I’m sure I’ll sort something out for the future. Cheers.
The fights go on; Gallagher will now fight former-UFC fighter Roman Salazar in Dublin. But for Ellenor this may be just the beginning of a terrible fight.