Bellator 163: McGeary vs. Davis will be held on November 4, 2016 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event Will air live in prime time on Spike TV.
Fight card
Light heavyweight Liam McGeary (c) vs. Phil Davis For the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship.
Women's Featherweight Marloes Coenen vs. Talita Nogueira
Welterweight Brennan Ward vs. Saad Awad
Welterweight Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson
Heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov vs. Javy Ayala
Preliminary card (Spike.com)
Middleweight Ed Ruth vs. Mark Mangiardi
Heavyweight Tyrell Fortune vs. Cody Miskell
Catchweight Neiman Gracie vs. Rudy Bears
Heavyweight Josh Diekmann vs. Tyler King
Featherweight Blair Tugman vs. Walter Smith-Cotito
Middleweight Michael Zichelle vs. Tim Caron
Welterweight Ilya Kotau vs. Carlos Corriea
Women's Flyweight Sarah Payant vs. Hannah Regina
Welterweight Keenan Raymond vs. Kastroit Xhema
Featherweight Thomas English vs. Christopher Foster
Welterweight James Boran vs. Vinicius De Jesus
Background
Liam McGeary will defend his light heavyweight title in a long-awaited matchup with top contender Phil Davis In main event of Bellator 163
This will be McGeary’s second title defense. The Englishman hasn’t fought since Sept. 19, 2015, when he successfully defended his belt by defeating Tito Ortiz by submission in the first round at Bellator 142 in San Jose, Calif. On that same night, Davis won a four-man light heavyweight tournament to become the mandatory challenger. Davis defeated former light heavy champion Emanuel Newton and Francis Carmont to earn the title shot.
McGeary (11-0, 8-0 with Bellator) won the light heavyweight title by defeating Newton in a five-round unanimous decision at Bellator 134 on Feb. 27, 2015, at the Mohegan Sun, ending Newton’s seven-fight winning streak. Seven months later, McGeary dominated Ortiz, forcing the former UFC champion to tap to a reverse triangle at 4:42 of the opening round. McGeary strained his medial collateral ligament during the bout and has been out of action since.
Davis (16-3-1, 3-0 with Bellator) was the first free agent to jump from UFC to Bellator. After joining the UFC in 2010 and failing to win a title, he signed with Bellator in April 2015. In his last outing, while waiting for McGeary to heal, he defeated Muhammed Lawal by unanimous decision at Bellator 154. Davis grew up in Harrisburg, Penn., and was an All-America wrestler at Penn State.
The Preliminary Card features the professional MMA debuts of former standout wrestlers Ed Ruth and Tyrell Fortune. Ruth was a three-time NCAA Division I champion for Penn State, while Fortune won an NCAA Division II title for Grand Canyon.