Bellator 247: Paul Daley taken ill as headline bout with Derek Anderson is cancelled
Paul Daley missed the weight ahead of his headline bout against Derek Anderson, before failing to show at the ceremonial weigh-in
Thursday 1 October 2020 08:11, UK
The main event at Bellator 247 in Milan has been cancelled after Paul Daley was taken to hospital at Wednesday's weigh-in ahead of his bout with Derek Anderson.
Daley had come in 1.6 pounds over the 171-pound welterweight limit on Wednesday morning before failing to return for the ceremonial weigh-in later in the day.
The Englishman, who was preparing for his 62nd professional mixed martial arts fight, has a history of struggling to make weight and had informed Bellator staff that he would weigh in over the limit prior to stepping on the scales.
"I jumped on the official scales, confirms that I'm over, fight's still on," Daley explained on Instagram. "From there I'm trying to rehydrate, get as many fluids on board, I'm lying down but I keep getting called up to do stuff which I know is part of the job but I've just cut weight so I'd have preferred not to do that.
"So I'm up doing an interview, up doing a COVID test which is necessary, I did my medical and signed some posters. I went back to lie down in the medical room because they had those beds. I lied down and started to get some cramps, some severe cramps in my hip and some abdominal cramps which I'm used to and it's happened before.
"But normally all of this is taking place upstairs in my bedroom with my team out the way while I'm getting rehydrated and getting my body back to where it needs to be. Unfortunately because of the restrictions this had to take place downstairs in full view of other fighters, the Bellator staff etc. so I understand why everyone was taken aback by this."
Daley explained that he had called on assistance from the Bellator staff as he tried to lower his body temperature and take on extra fluids, before making the decision himself to go to hospital.
"It led to me saying 'get me an ambulance, I'll just have an IV', the IV being the key, because I know if you have an IV the fight is off.
"Anyway, the ambulance came, I jumped in and got wheeled off, got to the hospital and was there for an hour and a half and I slept.
"I just slept in the waiting area on the bed for an hour and a half and when I woke up I felt great, I hadn't seen a doctor, jumped off the bed, jumped in an Uber and came back to the hotel."
Having not required an IV, Daley then worked with his manager and Bellator staff in an effort to salvage the fight, before being informed of its cancellation.
The restrictions enforced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic mean Daley and other fighters have seen the teams they typically travel with reduced in size, as well as usual pre-fight conditions altered.
"I think throughout Paul's career at welterweight, he's always struggled, he's missed weight," Telegraph journalist Gareth A Davies told Sky Sports. "I think this is the sixth time in his 61 fights, this would have been his 62nd, that he hasn't made weight.
"He's a very hench physique, large thighs, big legs, very powerful arms, big upper body, thick neck and he's not a tall man either. He's only five-foot-nine but a lot of the welterweights are six-foot-one/six-foot-two. Paul is a very dense physique. Obviously he was in his mid-30s now and it gets harder and harder."
"We tried to get interviews with him, he wasn't available at all. Bellator internals couldn't get hold of him yesterday. He was working on cutting the weight and I think he's just gone and literally destroyed his body trying to get down to weight."
It was set to mark Daley's first fight since his TKO win over Saad Awad in October 2019, Anderson's most recent bout coming in the same month when he beat Guilherme Bomba via unanimous decision.
Thursday's main event will now see Kate Jackson take on Denise Kielholtz in the flyweight division, while Chris Duncan's 16-pound contract weight bout with Iamik Furtado is a late addition to the main card. Norbert Novenyi Jr. will also face off against Laird Zerhouni in what was originally slated as the co-main event.
