Ask and you shall receive!
Shortly after knocking out Chance Rencountre last Saturday night (Feb. 19, 2022) at Bellator 274 — breaking five of his ribs and puncturing one of his lungs, in the process — Andrey Koreshkov took the opportunity to call out Paul Daley for a fight at the upcoming event in London, England on May 13. And matchmakers were quick to oblige.
A couple of days removed from the event, the promotion has booked the two hard-hitting sluggers to throw down in what will be “Semtex’s” final mixed martial arts (MMA) fight. Indeed, Daley recently revealed that he’d be hanging up his gloves following the event in his home country. He had previously teased a fight against a Bellator newcomer, but matchmakers decided to strike while the iron was hot and change course.
And needless to say, it’s a good move.
Daley is looking to ride off into the sunset with a “W” after he had his three-fight win streak snapped by Jason Jackson at Bellator 260 in June 2020. Before that, he had picked up huge victories over Erick Silva, Sabah Homasi and Saad Awad. At 39 years of age and 63 pro fights into his MMA career, “Semtex” has had quite a run and is looking for one last win before calling it a day.
As for Koreshkov, he is currently riding a three-fight win streak and his knockout over Rencountre was his second straight victory for the Viacom-owned promotion after returning following a brief hiatus. The former 170-pound champion is eying his first three-fight win streak in six years in order to bully his way into the Top 10.
Bellator London will be headlined by a Welterweight title fight as division champion Yaroslav Amosov defends his title against Michael Page. In the co-main event, ex-division king Douglas Lima battles the aforementioned Jason Jackson.
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