Derek Anderson barely had the chance to celebrate booking his next fight against Cedric Doumbe at the upcoming Bellator Paris card before disaster struck.
The veteran fighter suffered a gruesome foot injury while riding his bike that will knock him out of the Doumbe bout, which was scheduled on May 17 at the Accor Arena in Paris.
Anderson posted the news along with a gnarly photo of his foot on social media, and PFL officials also confirmed his withdrawal from the fight on Tuesday.
“Love you all. Hit and run,” Anderson wrote. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t make this fight happen. You have no idea. I will not be getting another bike.”
As of now, PFL has not found a new opponent for Doumbe, but the promotion is “actively seeking [a] replacement” to face the French star in May.
It’s unfortunate news for Anderson, who was looking to make his first appearance in nearly three years after falling to Michael “Venom” Page back in 2021. His only scheduled bout since then was a 2022 fight also scrapped for unknown reasons.
As for Doumbe, he’ll now wait for a new opponent to serve as the co-main event at the upcoming Bellator card in Paris. The former GLORY Kickboxing champion stormed onto the scene with a lightning quick knockout in his PFL debut, but then suffered his first pro MMA loss when a toe injury forced a stoppage in his fight against Baissangour Chamsoudinov.