British MMA veterans Jack Grant and Charlie Leary will make up the last two spots in the 2024 PFL European Welterweight Tournament and face each other in an all British affair at PFL Newcastle.
Both men come in as late additions to the tournament in a shake up to the original line up. The contest between the two is set to take place at the Utilita Arena as the promotion head back to Newcastle on June 8th.
Grant has only previously competed in the Smart Cage, when he faced Abdoul Abdouraguimov at PFL Europe 1 earlier this year. Abdouraguimov has dominated in all of his bouts since suffering his only loss in 2019 but the Brit pushed the 'Lazy King' all the way, throughout their 15 minute affair, with many believing Grant had done enough to get his hand raised. The judges were split but Abdouraguimov was given the nod on two of the judges scorecards to take the split decision.
Grant made his welcome return to the cage in December 2023 following an extensive time on the sidelines following a nasty knee and leg injury. In his return, the 32-year-old faced Ahmad Labban at Brave CF 80. After a back and forth fight, Grant picked up a submission win with just one second left on the clock, the latest submission in the promotion's history.
Charlie Leary will be in search of his first victory since 2020, when he makes the walk to the Smart Cage for the first time. After a big win against Kiefer Crosbie due to a doctors stoppage at Bellator Euro Series 9, '917' would have to wait 2 years before he could compete again, with bouts against Gavin Hughes and Benjamin Brander both being pulled. In his return, Leary faced an in form Davy Gallon, who stopped the Brit in the second round of their contest. He then dropped a unanimous decision to Soren Bak just 3 months later.
In his only outing of 2023, Leary faced Yancy Mederios and was submitted in the first round but the bout was then overturned to a no contest due to Mederios failing a drug test.
The other six men in the European tournament are Ibrahim Mane, Chequina Pedro, Daniele Miceli, Yassin Najid, Florim Zendeli and Tomasz Langowski.
The Welterweight tournament is one of three weight divisions that will kick off in Newcastle, with the men's Bantamweight and women's Flyweight tournaments also starting off in the North East.
In the main event, professional boxer Savannah Marshall will switch to the Smart Cage and make her professional mixed martial arts debut.
