Paul Daley

Image Credit: Bellator

Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson canceled after Daley is hospitalized due to botched weight cut

Paul Daley and Derek Anderson will not be competing on Thursday night after all.

Daley and Anderson were set to square off in the main event of Bellator 247, yet Daley missed weight by 2.6 pounds and was forced to leave the venue on a stretcher. So, according to journalist, Gareth A. Davies, the main event is off.

Paul Daley and Derek Anderson have not faced off at the official ceremonial weigh-in. Daley weighed in earlier 2.6lbs over the welterweight limit Anderson was 170.4. There is confusion as to whether (the) main event will actually go-ahead.

“Fight is OFF: Paul Daley leaves weigh-ins on a stretcher to hospital and fight with Derek Anderson is OFF. Confirmed as official to me by commissioner Brandon Morse.”

Paul Daley was looking to extend his winning streak to three and was set to compete for the first time in 2020. He’s coming off a TKO win over Saad Awad and a decision win over Erick Silva to get back into the win column. Before that, he had back-to-back decision losses to Michael Page and Jon Fitch. In his career, the Englishman does have a notable win over Lorenz Larkin and did fight Tyron Woodley and Nick Diaz in Strikeforce.

Derek Anderson, meanwhile, is also on a two-fight winning streak and was set for his first fight in 2020. The American is 7-2 in Bellator with notable wins over Patricky Pitbull, twice, Brandon Girtz and Awad.

Whether or not Bellator will be looking to reschedule this fight for a later date is to be determined. Daley and Anderson made a ton of sense from a rankings perspective as the winner would have likely been in a number one contender bout for the title.

With the loss of Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson, there is no word on which fight will be promoted to the main event.

author avatar
Cole Shelton
Cole Shelton covers MMA for BJPenn.com, MMANews, and MyMMANews.com while also being the lead MMA odds writer for Sports Betting Dime