Paul Daley Pulled From Bellator 163 Due To Weight-Cutting Issues
Tonight’s Bellator 163 event has lost a key fight.
Bellator MMA President Scott Coker confirmed on Friday morning that the Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson fight had been canceled due to Daley having a difficult weight cut on Thursday. Daley weighed in at 171 pounds for the fight. He does have a history of weight-cutting issues.
“”After a difficult weight cut, we, along with Mike Mazzulli from the Mohegan Athletic Commission, made the decision to pull Paul Daley from tonight’s event as a precautionary measure,” Bellator president Scott Coker told MMAFighting.com “Fighter safety is of the utmost importance to us here at Bellator.””
The promotion will still have a four bout main card and will have to move up a preliminary bout to the main card. Also, the Marloes Coenen vs. Talita Nogueira fight was also canceled after Nogueira missed weight by 5.6 pounds. Both Anderson and Coenen will be paid their show money.
Bellator 163 takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event will air live in prime time on Spike TV while the prelims will air on Spike TV.com. Liam McGeary will defend his light heavyweight title in a long-awaited matchup with top contender Phil Davis In main event while Saad Awad and Brennan Ward meet in a welterweight bout in the co-main event.
Here is the updated card for the event:
Main Card
Light Heavyweight World Title Bout: Liam McGeary (11-0) vs. Phil Davis (16-3)
Welterweight Co-Main Event: Saad Awad (19-8) vs. Brennan Ward (13-4)
Heavyweight Feature Bout: Sergei Kharitonov (23-5) vs. Javy Ayala (9-5)
Preliminary Card
Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Ed Ruth (Debut) vs. Mark Mangiardi (Debut)
Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Tyrell Forune (Debut) vs. Cody Miskell (Debut)
Catchweight Preliminary Bout: Neiman Gracie (4-0) vs. Rudy Bears (16-14)
Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Josh Diekmann (15-7, 1 NC) vs. Tyler King (11-4)
Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Blair Tugman (8-6) vs. Walter Smith-Cotito (4-4, 1 NC)
Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Michael Zichelle (8-4) vs. Tim Caron (5-0)
