Paul Daley’s retirement bout has seen a change of plans.
Bellator announced Tuesday that Daley (43-18-2) will fight promotional newcomer Wendell Giacomo (9-2) in a welterweight bout at Bellator 281 on May 13 at OVO Arena Wembley in London. Daley had originally been scheduled to face Andrey Koreshkov. No reason was given for the change.
The new bout was first reported by Metro News.
Daley’s bout at Bellator 281 is expected to be the last of his 19-year career. During an appearance on The MMA Hour in January, the 39-year-old Englishman announced his plan to hang up the gloves.
” It will be my retirement battle,” Daley stated. After many years of playing the game and hours spent in the gym and on the road for hours, my back has been hurting and every morning I feel tired.
” I have put in a lot and am now able to retire. So yeah, I’m going to retire. I don’t want to be one of those fighters who’s getting knocked out all the time by the younger guys. I want to be a guy who goes out when I want to go out.”
Giacomo, 27, makes his Bellator debut with wins in eight of his past nine fights. The Brazilian most recently fought at an LFA event in Rio de Janeiro last July, defeating Uyran Carlos by unanimous decision.
Bellator 281 already has seen several modifications to its welterweight roster. A Yaroslav-Amosov title defence against Michael “Venom”, Page vs. Logan Storley, was changed, while a fight between Douglas Lima (three-time Bellator champ) and Jason Jackson was postponed to a later date.
