Bellator MMA recently announced the participants in it’s upcoming Welterweight Gran Prix, which is set to kick off on Sept. 29, 2018, and will crown a new 170-pound champion once the tournament is all said and done.
After being left off the original roster, Paul Daley has now been added to the list of 10 combatants participating after “Semtex” signed a new deal with the promotion. And it all goes as planned, the wheels are in motion to have him face off against Michael Page in the opening round.
ESPN’s Brett Okamotto and Ariel Helwani have the scoop.
Paul Daley has signed a new deal with Bellator MMA. Scott Coker confirms via text. “We got the deal done — we get the big fights done!” Just judging by that text, I think we’ll finally get Daley vs. MVP.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 18, 2018
Paul Daley and Bellator have finally come to terms on a new deal, sources confirm. Current plan is for him to meet MVP in the first round of the Bellator 170 pound tournament. Date TBD.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 18, 2018
Daley and Page have been at each other’s throats for quite some time now, but for some reason or another, a showdown between the two talented strikers never materialized. But that doesn’t seem to be an issue any longer, as Bellator isn’t too keen on risking them getting bounced from the tournament without having faced one another.
The rest of the field will be round out by, Rory MacDonald, Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov, Neiman Gracie, Ed Ruth, and Yaroslav Amosov, Lorenz Larkin and Jon Fitch.