Bellator 173 will take place on February 24, 2017 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This time, the promotion heads to the Northern Irish capital, two months after Bellator 169 went down in the Republic of Ireland.
Liam McGeary will return to action since being dethroned by Phil Davis at Bellator 163. The Norfolk native lost not only the Bellator light-heavyweight title but also, his undefeated status to Davis. McGeary was originally slated to face Chris Fields, but an injury to the SBG Ireland fighter saw him switch with Vladimir Filipovic. Two days before the fight, the opponent changed again, this time Brett McDermott, returning from brief retirement.
Shay Walsh also features on the main card after the disappointment of Luiz Tosta withdrawing (with only a couple of day’s notice) from what would have been Walsh’s Bellator debut at Bellator 169 in December. After having the Christmas and New Year’s holiday to seriously reflect on his future in MMA, the former BAMMA champion will take on Northern Ireland’s James McErlean.
BAMMA 28 will also take place on February 24, 2017 in Belfast and will form part of the promotion’s second collaboration with Bellator MMA, headlined by Norman Parke and Paul Redmond.
Bellator 173: McGeary vs. Fields – Fight card:
Light Heavyweight: Liam McGeary (11-1) vs. Brett McDermott (7-4)
Featherweight: James Gallagher def. Kirill Medvedovsky via Submission (Rear-naked-choke) (Round 1 – 2:53)
140 lb. Catchweight: Iony Razafiarison def. Sinead Kavanagh via Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
Welterweight: Alex Lahore def. Colin Fletcher via Submission (Rear-naked-choke) (Round 2 – 2:42)
Catchweight: Shay Walsh def. James McErlean via Decision (Unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
BAMMA 28: Parke vs. Redmond – Fight card:
BAMMA Lightweight title: Norman Parke (22-5-1) vs. Paul Redmond (11-5)
BAMMA Interim-Flyweight title: Andy Young (10-8) vs. Dominique Wooding (3-0)
BAMMA Featherweight title: Ronnie Mann (25-8-1) vs. Damien Lapilus (14-7-1)
BAMMA Lonsdale Lightweight title: Rhys McKee (5-0) vs. Tim Barnett (3-0)
Featherweight: Decky Dalton (6-2) vs. Jonathan Brookins (15-10)
Welterweight: Jonathan Reid (0-0) vs. Daniel Olejniczak (0-0)
Featherweight: Niall Smith (4-4) vs. Daniel Rutkowski (1-2)
Middleweight: Will Fluery (1-0) vs. Kyle McClurkin (0-0)
Featherweight: Paul Hughes (1-0) vs. Adam Gustab (2-0)
Featherweight: Andrew Murphy (0-1) vs. Stephen Kilifin (2-1)
Catchweight: Glenn Irvine (0-1) vs. Keith McCabe (2-3)
