Paul Daley, Douglas Lima and Michael Page all likely feel they are next in line for a shot at the Bellator welterweight championship.
Daley and Lima meet this Saturday night in the main event of Bellator 158 from London, while Page takes on veteran Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. Both bouts will be part of the Spike main card.
For Daley, this contest presents another opportunity to shine in front of his English fans. “Semtex” is on a five-fight win streak that includes three straight wins inside the Bellator cage – with the two most recent being finishes.
Back in January, he knocked out Andy Uhrich, adding to a 2015 finish of Dennis Olson.
However, Lima will be his stiffest challenge since he met Tyron Woodley and Nick Diaz back in 2011 while competing for Strikeforce.
Lima is a former Bellator titleholder who has gone 5-2 over his last seven, with both defeats being via decision over five rounds to current titleholder Andrey Koreshkov and former champion Ben Askren. He finished Rick Hawn, Ben Saunders, Bryan Baker, Michail Tsarev and Jacob Ortiz between 2012-14.
Page is kind of the wild card in this whole situation.
Bellator has been grooming the Brit slowly, pairing him with over-matched opponents so far. Since going the distance two years ago vs. Nah-Shon Burrell, the 10-0 “Venom” has finished Jeremie Holloway, Charlie Ontiveros and Rudy Bear in just over five total minutes of action.
Is now the time for Page to cash-in on his “MVP” moniker and become the next contender to Koreshkov? Or will Daley or Lima make a statement and do that?