Rebney: Martinez-Shamhalaev Tourney Final Not Yet a Lock for Bellator 83

REBNEY: MARTINEZ-SHAMHALAEV TOURNEY FINAL NOT YET A LOCK FOR BELLATOR 84
BY DANN STUPP AND CHRISTIAN STEIN ON DEC 08, 2012 AT 10:40 AM ET

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – After Shahbulat Shamhalaev was stricken with food poisoning and forced the cancellation of Friday's Bellator 83 main event, Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney immediately announced the rebooking.

On Friday's MTV2 telecast, he said Shamhalaev (11-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) and fellow Season 7 featherweight finalist Rad Martinez (14-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC) instead will fight this coming Friday at Bellator 84.

But after the event, Rebney told MMAjunkie.com the tournament final isn't yet a lock for the season-ending event.

"My hope is we can do it [on Friday at Bellator 84]," Rebney said after the event, which took place at Caesars Atlantic City in New Jersey. "However, that will depend on a few factors, including Rad and other things. But we hope we can do it."

Bellator 84 takes place at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino Hammond in Hammond, Ind. It's Bellator's final event of 2012 and the last one before the organization moves to Spike TV in January.

Even if the tournament final, which earns the winner $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot, is delayed and not possible for Bellator 84, it'll only push it back another month or so since Season 8 is expected to kick off on Jan. 10. Still, Rebney said the commission's decision to scratch the fight clearly upset the Russian-born Shamhalaev.

"He was upset beyond your wildest dreams, just pissed," Rebney said. "He wanted very, very badly to go, but he couldn't. The commission wouldn't let him fight."

Rebney said the New Jersey Athletic Control Board saw Shamhalaev vomit in the locker room. Bad fruit was to blame for the food poisoning, he said.

But Rebney didn't even know there was a problem until the fight before the scheduled headliner was nearly complete. At that point, a Bellator official found Rebney cageside, and he went to speak with commission representatives.

"The commission ultimately said, 'We're not going to let him fight since we've seen him vomit twice in the locker room; we're not going to let a guy who's vomiting fight regardless if whether it's food poisoning or any other reason,'" Rebney said.

So with the fight appropriately scratched, Rebney and his team and will work to assure it'll be part of Friday's Bellator 84 event, a loaded card that also features the Season 7 heavyweight and lightweight tourney finals.