Paul Daley vs Andrey Koreshkov booked for Bellator 281
It appears we have the final fight of English knockout artist Paul Daley’s long and illustrious career lined up, as he faces fellow knockout artist, former Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov this spring.
This bout is to go down on May 13, live from the SSE Arena in London, England, at Bellator 281.
What an incredible example of matchmaking we have here!
Paul Daley is one of the scariest strikers this sport has ever seen, and by quite a large margin. He may just be the hardest-hitting welterweight of all-time, and that’s a serious compliment when you have to consider guys like Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley, Johny Hendricks, Hector Lombard, and Anthony Johnson, amongst others.
Though his career has been up and down through the wins and losses, Daley comes in with a record of 43-18-2, an astounding 34 wins of which coming via knockout. The other nine are decisions, he hasn’t submitted a single opponent through his 60+ fight career.
What’s more, 23 of those knockout wins came via KO, where his opponent was laid out stiff. Just 11 are TKO’s, if that says anything about his punching power. Daley also went 21-3 as a professional kickboxer, securing 14 knockouts and three championships along the way.
Daley’s mixed martial arts titles include the British and world welterweight championships in Cage Rage, as well as the FX3 welterweight championship.
Daley also fought Jake Shields for the EliteXC welterweight championship, and Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce welterweight championship, though he lost both bouts.
The Englishman also boasts wins over kickboxing champion Martin Kampmann (TKO) and an always game Jorge Masvidal (UD).
Andrey Koreshkov is also one of the scarier talents we’ve seen at 170 lbs, as he comes into this bout on a three-fight win streak with a record of 25-4. Of those 25 wins, 13 come via knockout with four submissions and eight decisions.
The Russian won his first 13 fights en route to a title shot against then Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, who defeated him via TKO in round four after out-wrestling him for 15+ minutes.
Following the first defeat of his career, Koreshkov won his next six-straight, laying claim to the Bellator welterweight championship with a unanimous decision win over Douglas Lima. He then defended it against former WEC & UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson, before losing it in his rematch to Lima.
Since then Koreshkov has gone 6-2, losing to Lima in their trilogy, and losing a split decision to UFC veteran Lorenz Larkin back in 2019.
The number of names each talent has on their hit list is absolutely remarkable.
These two have a few common opponents, such as Douglas Lima, Lorenz Larkin, and Sobah Homasi.
Both men lost to Lima. Daley KO’d Larkin, while Koreshkov was out-pointed by him, and both defeated Homasi, Daley via TKO, and Koreshkov via unanimous decision.
Who do you see coming out on top in this welterweight dream fight between Paul Daley and Andrey Koreshkov?
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