Bellator MMA announces Paul Daley vs Rory MacDonald at #179 in London!

Despite rumours that Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley had been scheduled to fight fellow British welterweight, Michael ‘Venom’ Page, (MVP) it was announced today that Daley will be the fighter who finally welcomes Rory MacDonald into the Bellator cage at The SSE arena in London on May 19th.

MVP is fighting on the card but at this point has no declared opponent. Page has been relentlessly campaigning on social media to fight ‘Semtex’ and was clearly annoyed with Daley, as they went at each other consistently throughout the conference.

Both Daley and MacDonald have faced opponents at the top level of the game, both have plenty of experience and both are known for their fights to become incredibly violent encounters. From this standpoint, it seems this has all the warning signs that lead to an excellent fight, the kind that rarely requires a judge’s decision.

Thursday’s press conference saw some heated verbal exchanges on stage between Daley and Page, with a nervous-looking Scott Coker between them.

MMA Digest posted this clip on their YouTube channel, with extended highlights of the press conference, including the argument…

Daley explained that he chose the fight with Rory MacDonald over Page simply because the title implications attached to the MacDonald matchup outweigh the local attention and excitement which the MVP fight would gather.

MVP seemed visibly annoyed, looking detached at times, wearing shades on stage and repeatedly sang ‘Paulaaa’ over Daley’s speech. Page explained that he only did this because he felt he had been disrespected by an earlier call out from Daley and that calling out fighters is not something Page does himself unless he has a personal reason.

“King Mo” (Muhammed Lawal) was present at the event, promoting his upcoming rematch with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in Chicago next month, whilst British heavyweight boxer Dereck Chisora also made a cameo appearance.

Kimbo Slice’s son, Kimbo Jr, is set to be on the card. Bellator president Scott Coker said he is working with local promotions and matchmakers, such as BAMMA’s David Green (present), in order to fill the rest of the card with local talent.

Rory MacDonald is expected to fly to London in around two weeks’ time for a bigger press conference where more fighters will be announced for the card.

Tickets go on sale on Friday 3rd March (with special pre-sale tickets available on the 1st and 2nd March) via the SSE Arena box office and AXS.