HONOLULU – Bellator’s return to Hawaii has led to some disappointing news for a pair of fighters.
The promotion has released Ray Borg and Keoni Diggs after they struggled to make weight for Bellator 295 and never made their trips to the scale at Friday’s official weigh-ins. Those weight failures resulted in the cancellation of their fights.
Borg (16-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) was set to make his Bellator debut against former bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi (31-5 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) to open the Bellator 295 main card on Showtime. Their fight was supposed to take place at flyweight, though Bellator does not have a men’s flyweight division. Then it was moved to 130 pounds, but Borg never made an attempt on the scale.
Diggs (10-2 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), from Hawaii, was scheduled to fight Weber Almeida (7-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) in a featherweight bout on the prelims.
“I think Ray and Keoni both had catchweights to begin with and we started with one contract price, and then they negotiated a catchweight because they couldn’t make weight,” Coker told MMA Junkie after Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins for Bellator 295 in Honolulu. “And then for them to miss weight completely … When it’s time to fight, this is a professional fight league. This is not an amateur tournament. I think it’s time to say goodbye to both of them, and we’re going to move on and let them fight somewhere else, and good luck.”
Borg has had weight issues in the past, and his resume includes 21 total fights – but now 17 known cancellations.
Coker said making the fight at flyweight was a way to get Horiguchi a bout in the weight class he prefers, but now it won’t happen – and he isn’t sure just how quickly he can get the former champ a fight.
“In the past, I get it,” Coker said. “But his management and my team assured me that he was going to be able to make weight and make the catchweight, which was 130 for sure. No problem. You go by the work becauase usually we don’t have a problem like this in a fight that big. But unfortunately, that’s what happened (Friday).
“Cutting weight might be difficult, and I’m not sure the details of why it didn’t work out. … It’s something that as a professional, you’ve got to make weight. That’s part of the deal. … We did everything we said we’re going to do. I feel bad for Horiguchi. I feel bad for his family who flew in from Japan.”
The news didn’t get much better for Borg on Friday. Along with his Bellator release before he even could fight there, his management company, Dominance MMA, released him from its stable of fighters. A statement from Dominance to John Morgan apologized to Bellator, Horiguchi and Horguchi’s gym, American Top Team, for Borg being “not willinng or able to make that weight, resulting in unnecessary complications for all involved. Given the circumstances, as well as our own embarrassment, we can no longer in good faith represent our now former client …”
Thursday, DeAnna Bennett missed for Friday’s Bellator 294 main event, meaning she can’t win the women’s flyweight title against Liz Carmouche. Coker said because the Carmouche-Bennett fight still is on, the promotion will wait until later to decide what comes next for Bennett.
Bellator 295 takes place Saturday at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.