The grudge match is upon us.
According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Michael "Venom" Page is scheduled to fight Paul Daley on Feb. 16 at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. The bout is part of Bellator's Welterweight Grand Prix. Okamoto reports that there were discussions to have the bout in England, where both fighters are from, but the final decision was made to go with Connecticut. The bout will air live in the UK on 5Spike.
A bout between Daley (40-16-2) and Page (13-0) has been talked about for years, but never came to fruition. Even when it was announced that the two would meet in the first-round of the Grand Prix, fans were skeptical that it would happen. Page has been angling for the fight since 2016 when he began calling Daley out on social media, but Daley has turned him aside, claiming that "MVP" is not on his level.
At Bellator 179 in May 2017, the two got into a post-fight scuffle outside of the cage following Daley's bout against Rory MacDonald.
Earlier this year, Daley and Bellator had a contract dispute, which almost led to Daley leaving the promotion. The two sides were able to hash things out, leading to "Semtex" re-signing with the company and being placed in the Welterweight Grand Prix.
The winner of the grudge match will meet Douglas Lima, who defeated Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 206, in the semifinals of the Grand Prix.
