THE SECOND-LARGEST ORGANISATION in mixed martial arts begins its bid to capture a share of the Irish market tonight at Dublin’s 3Arena.
The casual fanbase generally looks no further than the UFC to feed its MMA appetite, but Bellator have plans to change that. However, it’s very much a tentative first venture to these shores for the California-based promotion, which is owned by US media giant Viacom and headed up by former Strikeforce CEO and founder Scott Coker.
This evening’s Bellator 169 card will be a co-promotion with UK-based organisation BAMMA, who are well accustomed to Ireland by now having staged three events in Dublin since September 2015. Aside from Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal and Daniel Weichel, Bellator have left their biggest names behind as they test the Irish waters.
Despite featuring two title fights, as well as one of the most highly-rated prospects in MMA, BAMMA 27 will act as a preliminary card for the brief Bellator 169 bill, with doors at the 3Arena for tonight’s action opening at 5pm.
Ballymena’s Rhys McKee will take on Jai Herbert for the BAMMA British lightweight title. In the BAMMA 27 main event, fellow Ballymena native Alan Philpott will look to halt the progress of Tom Duquesnoy by winning the BAMMA bantamweight belt.
Duquesnoy, the reigning BAMMA bantamweight and featherweight champion, is regarded as one of the leading young fighters operating outside the UFC at the moment, so Philpott is aiming to secure what would undoubtedly be the most significant win of his career.
The Bellator portion of the card will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between ‘King Mo’ — who has previously overcome the likes of Gegard Mousasi and Cheick Kongo — and Satoshi Ishii, who won a gold medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
However, the fight attracting the most attention from an Irish perspective is the featherweight bout between James Gallagher and Anthony Taylor. Gallagher insists he’ll be challenging for the Bellator title within a year. If so, he’ll need to deliver a dominant performance and victory against his 1-1 opponent.
Gallagher’s team-mates Brian Moore, Sinead Kavanagh and Dylan Tuke will also be aiming to make it a successful night for Straight Blast Gym. Tuke takes on Cameron Else, Kavanagh faces Elina Kallionidou and Moore goes up against former Bellator featherweight title challenger Daniel Weichel.
Bellator 169
Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal vs. Satoshi Ishii
James Gallagher vs. Anthony Taylor
Daniel Weichel vs. Brian Moore
Sinead Kavanagh vs. Elina Kallionidou
Dylan Tuke vs. Cameron Else
BAMMA 27
Tom Duquesnoy vs. Alan Philpott
Rhys McKee vs. Jai Herbert
Nathan Jones vs. Walter Gahadza
Terry Brazier vs. Niklas Holtze
Kiefer Crosbie vs. Conor Riordan
Blaine O’Driscoll vs. Neil Ward
Ian Cleary vs. Andy Lofthouse
Keith McCabe vs. Richard Kiely
There’s no live television coverage for Irish viewers but tickets are available by clicking here.
