Injury Bug smiles as patella tear takes away from Bellator 141

Bellator 141 suffered a heavy blow to the main card as an injury forced the promotion to bail on the heavyweight bout between Lorenzo Hood and Raphael ‘The Silencer' Butler. Hood sustained a minor patella tear while warming up for his debut match that just might have added a splash of excitement to a rather decision-heavy card. The bout was supposed to be Hood's debut with the Viacom based promotion.

Lorenzo Hood had this to say regarding the incident:

"The Bellator mat we were warming up on had a lip on it so it was raised up a bit. We did three rounds on it and I felt great. During the fourth round I went to throw a kick and my foot slipped off the mat and that's when I felt the twinge and heard a pop. Within fifteen minutes my knee had completely swelled up and that's when my coaches made the decision to pull out."

Knee injuries are among the most severe afflictions an athlete can endure in the world of sports. Did Hood's camp make the right decision by removing his talents from the card knowing that both the Bellator promotion and the MMA fans were counting on his bout vs. Butler to be a bountiful ballet of bloodshed? Lorenzo Hood addressed this question by saying:

"The right choice was made. Come to find out, the orthopedic doctor informed me that if I would have fought then I might have ripped and torn everything. With my patella being torn, the other ligaments in my knee become vulnerable. At the end of the day, it just wasn't worth the risk."

With Bellator 141 in the books, Lorenzo Hood and MMA fans everywhere will have to wait to see the heavyweight in a big stage cage. Hood spoke about his estimated recovery time:

"I'm starting rehab immediately and can get back to training in about a week if I baby the knee. My body heals pretty rapidly and I could probably fight if I had to at Bellator 142 on September 19 with a cortisone shot or two but I can definitely fight in October. Hopefully Bellator is willing to give me a fight shortly."

With the Hood vs. Butler match eliminated and a short notice fill-in fighter to face The Silencer unattainable, featherweight tilt Marloes Coenen vs. Arlene Blencowe was bumped up from the prelims to the main card on Spike TV. Submission ace Coenen bested Blencowe in the second round of their battle by securing an armbar and achieving the tap. Although Coenen put up an impressive performance, did it provide the same level of excitement that a Hood vs. Butler heavyweight slugfest would have produced? Unfortunately the fans will never know and the 'Injury Bug' has successfully altered another card.