Hollett (left) battling Mychal Clark

Light-Heavyweight Now Cleared and Ready to Fight Matt Hamill

By Kelsey Mowatt

A few eyebrows were raised today when the UFC announced that Roger Hollett will in fact make his Octagon debut against Matt Hamill, September 22nd in Toronto. The reason being, of course, was that the Nova Scotia fighter was originally scheduled to fight Hamill at UFC 152, before being replaced by Vladimir Matyushenko.

Now, Matyushenko has been forced to withdraw due to a reported tear in his Achilles tendon, and Hollett has been reinstated on the card. While some outlets reported that Hollett had originally withdrawn due to injury, the light-heavyweight claims that a previous contract with Bellator was the actual reason.

“I have no idea where the injury rumor started, but I was never injured,” said Hollett, who scored a split decision win over John Hawk while competing for Bellator last November. “It was a contract dispute with Bellator. They have a clause in my contract that they could match any of my next offers…We were trying to get the release paper from them. So that turned into a bit of headache, and they had to give Matt some time to prepare for somebody so they took me out and put in Vladimir.”

According to Hollett, it wasn’t until more recently that he was cleared to fight, after Bellator decided not to match the UFC’s offer. Bellator could not be immediately reached for comment.

Hollett (13-3) was expected to compete in Bellator’s upcoming light-heavyweight tournament, prior to it being announced that he would fight at UFC 152.

The former Maximum Fighting Championship champion is riding a five fight win streak.

Stay tuned to Full Contact Fighter for a feature story with Hollett regarding his upcoming UFC debut.