Heavyweight veteran Josh Barnett was not cleared by the Hawaii State Boxing Commission to compete at Bellator 235, ruling him out of a main event opposite Ronny Markes.
Bumped to the main event was a bantamweight matchup between UFC vet Erik Perez and Toby Misech, Bellator’s broadcast team announced after breaking the bad news that Barnett was suffering from illness that Bellator President Scott Coker also called “severe.”
Bellator 235’s co-main was scheduled to go live when Barnett’s scratch was announced. Friday’s event served as a salute to the troops promoted by the USO at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.