All athletes were on point ahead of Bellator’s return to the English capital with Bellator Champions Series: London.
The 10 bout card has suffered some late withdrawals and opponent changes but a strong show can still be expected for the English crowd.
After the Middleweight title fight, and highly anticipated rematch, between champion Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards was pulled from the card, the number one contender contest between Leah McCourt and Sara Collins will now serve as the evening’s main event.
Now taking the co-main event spot, 2023 PFL Europe Light Heavyweight championship finalist Simeon Powell will pull on the Bellator gloves for the first time as he faces 20 fight veteran Rafael Xavier. The 205lbs clash will be the first time ‘Smooth’ has competed since being handed his first professional loss by Jakob Nedoh last year. Xavier poses a tough challenge for the young Brit, having lost only one of his last seven fights, a razor-close split decision loss to Pavol Langer.
Powell’s teammate, and fellow Light Heavyweight, Luke Trainer will also feature on the card. ‘The Gent’ takes on his most experienced opponent to date, in the form of Laurynas Urbonavicius. Trainer is currently 5-1 under the Bellator banner and is a fan favorite, due to his exciting fighting style. The bout will see Urbonavicius enter the Bellator cage for the first time in his 16 fights. With 15 first round finishes between them, this 205lbs clash could be extremely entertaining for as long as it lasts.
Elsewhere on the main card, an incredibly exciting, all-British Lightweight contest between Marc Diakiese and Tim Wilde will take place. After parting ways with the UFC and signing with PFL earlier this year, the promotion revealed that ‘Bonecrusher’ would potentially compete under both the PFL and Bellator banner before entering the 2025 PFL Regular Season, next year. Wilde has been a regular feature on Bellator cards over the last 5 years. After losing his promotional debut, the Birmingham man went on a 6 fight unbeaten run before suffering a devasting knockout against Monoel Sousa last time out.
Other interesting contests on the card include the unbeaten Irish duo, Ciaran Clarke and Darragh Kelly facing Zebenzui Ruiz and Dmytrii Hrytsenko, respectively. The aforementioned Manoel Sousa also returns to the fold. He will put his perfect record on the line against fellow unbeaten prospect Archie Colgan.
You can find the full weigh-in results, below:Bellator Champions Series London Main Card:
Saturday, September 14 – Live on DAZN / Virgin Media / Max
OVO Arena Wembley, London
6:00pm BST | 1:00pm EST
Women’s Featherweight No.1 Contender Bout: Leah McCourt (145.9 lbs) vs Sara Collins (145.8 lbs)
Light Heavyweight Main Card Bout: Simeon Powell (205.9 lbs) vs Rafael Xavier(204.6 lbs)
Light Heavyweight Main Card Bout: Luke Trainer (204.2 lbs) vs Laurynas Urbonavicius (205.0 lbs)
Lightweight Main Card Bout: Tim Wilde (155.3 lbs) vs Marc Diakiese (155.7 lbs)
Preliminary Card:
Lightweight Main Card Bout: Archie Colgan (155.1 lbs) vs Manoel Sousa (155.3 lbs)
Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Mike Shipman (185.9 lbs) vs Eslam Abdul Baset(184.0 lbs)
Contract Weight (175 lbs) Preliminary Bout: Joseph Luciano (174.1 lbs) vs Steven Hill (173.8 lbs)
Contract Weight (140 lbs) Preliminary Bout: Ciaran Clarke (139.8 lbs) vs Tuomas Grönvall (139.1 lbs)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Darragh Kelly (155.2 lbs) vs Dmytrii Hrytsenko (155.6 lbs)
CANCELLED BOUT: Women’s Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Eman Almudhaf vs Daiane Da Silva
