Ross Houston will return to the cage for the first time since 2020, when he takes on Steven Hill at Bellator Champions Series: London.
The announcements for the upcoming card have been coming thick and fast, with Johnny Eblen looking to defend his Bellator Middleweight title against Fabian Edwards in the main event as Leah McCourt takes on Sara Collins in the co-main event.
Houston has only made the walk 9 times since joining the professional ranks back in 2016. After just three fights, Houston signed a multi-fight contract with Cage Warriors in 2017 and instantly announced himself to the Welterweight division when he submitted Dylan McLoughlin just 31 seconds into their bout.
He then faced slick submission specialist, Aaron Khalid at Cage Warriors 91 and earned a hard fought unanimous decision win, before a second round submission win against Nathan Jones put Houston in prime position to fight for the Cage Warriors Welterweight title.
The opportunity came knocking at Cage Warriors 98 when ‘The Hitman’ faced Stefano Paterno, who was looking to make his first title defence. The 15 minute bout was extremely close, with both men finding success utilising their respective game plans, but it was Houston who had his hand raised by way of split decision and therefore crowned the new Welterweight champion.
The Scotsman’s first title defence rolled round 8 months later when he took on Nicolas Dalby at Cage Warriors 106. In a bout that will go down as one of the best fights in the promotion’s history, both men went to war and the fight was ultimately ruled a no contest when midway through the third round, referee Marc Goddard called a stop to proceedings due to the sheer amount of blood on the canvas making it almost impossible for either man to plant their feet.
Houston then signed with Bellator and made his promotional debut against Michael 'Venom' Page. Houston done a good job at keeping MVP’s slick striking at bay but picked up the first loss of his career when he dropped a unanimous decision.
Hill will make the walk to the Bellator cage for the fourth time in less than two years, as he looks to hand Houston back to back losses.
The Englishman first competed on the global promotion at Bellator 287 and had a successful start to his promotional tenure with a unanimous decision win against Andrea Fusi. He was back in action 5 months later against Joël Kouadja, submitting the Frenchman in the second round of their Bellator 291 bout.
Hill was handed his first loss at Bellator Champions Series Paris when he faced the vastly more experienced Mike Shipman.
