What’s Next For MVP?

What’s Next For MVP?

By: Jon Prentice

Bellator 200 went down on Friday 25th May from London’s Wembley Arena and the fans were treated to a night of entertaining action and spectacular finishes. One such finish was dished out by London’s own Michael ‘Venom’ Page (13-0) who maintained his unbeaten run, this time defeating David Rickels (19-4) in the nights co-main event.

Despite many fans criticising the level of competition that MVP has come up against in his career, there is no doubt that Rickels is a tough competitor that was certainly a step up in comparison to his previous foes. With Rickels having competed against the likes of Michael Chandler and Patricky Freire, it was expected that MVP may have his hands full in his latest encounter, however Rickels was stopped in the usual impressive fashion that MVP is becoming notorious for.

Having had the better of the stand up exchanges, early in the 2nd round MVP caught Rickels as he stepped in with a stinging right hand, forcing Rickels to concede the fight via technical submission having informed the ref he was not fit to continue. MVP displayed his usual flamboyance and unorthodox style on route to his 13th straight career win.

With another impressive stoppage win, what is next for 31 year old MVP?

For most people involved in the sport and myself included, the fight to make next is the massive UK showdown with veteran Paul Daley. Daley has recently signed with manager Ali Abdelaziz who is notorious for getting his fighters what they want, and it appears they want the MVP bout.

Daley recently told Whoa TV that the fight between him and MVP was the biggest fight Bellator could make, and they appear to be targeting the bout for September time. The fight would garnish huge interest from MMA fans in the UK as well as across the pond, and would no doubt provide a big pay day for both involved.

Daley would relish the stand up war and the chance to notch a win over one of the UK’s top talents, whilst a win for MVP over Daley would cement his standing as a legitimate contender.

Whether the bout goes ahead or not is yet to be known, however it appears that it is closer than ever to being confirmed and MMA fans will be hoping the mouth watering prospect comes to fruition.