Cal Ellenor Says Brain Illness Lead To Bellator 227 Withdrawal

Cal Ellenor and James Gallagher were set to collide next week at Bellator 227, but Ellenor was pulled from the card and replaced by UFC veteran Roman Salazar. 

Ellenor would post a video on Instagram recently, stating that the reason he withdrew from the card was due to a brain illness discovered during pre-fight medical testing.

Here is a transcript of what Ellenor said in the video, with the transcript provided by MMA Junkie:

“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. 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.”

There is no word yet on when or if Ellenor will ever compete again, but the fighter did say in the video that the doctors advised him towards retirement.