Your heart has to go out to Matt Mitrione.
The heavyweight was one of the first big-name fighters to make the switch from the UFC to Bellator at a time when there wasn't any real marquee opponents for him.
Well, at least on the level that he would have been facing in the UFC. After all, the division still has yet to crown a champion after Vitaly Minakov was stripped of the belt after taking a series of bouts with Eurasia Fight Nights.
Mitrione's fortunes changed drastically when Bellator announced the signing of arguably the greatest heavyweight ever, Fedor Emelianenko. Mitrione was tasked with the challenge of welcoming the Russian superstar to the promotion in Bellator 172's headliner.
Not only was he going to take on a living legend, but being the bookies' favourite, he had a great chance of winning the biggest fight of his life. However, it all fell apart at the very last minute thanks to a bout of kidney stones.
https://twitter.com/mattmitrione/status/833213965622579201
Mitrione was hospitalised and the fight was pulled from the card on extremely short notice. The promotion even offered fans refunds if they sought them before the first fight of the night kicked off because the main draw of the night was removed.
All that time, Mitrione was trying his best to get back to full fitness which meant passing those pesky kidney stones. He eventually whizzed it out in Dallas airport, but his final update on the matter will tell you all you need to know about how tough that ordeal must have been.
https://twitter.com/mattmitrione/status/835507621511708672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Shout out to UFC featherweigh Chas Skelly for bringing some much-needed humour to the situation. His witty retort will turn that grimace into a moderate giggle.
