London, England – BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) are proud to announce the first details for their highly anticipated February event; BAMMA 5 which will feature an explosive headline fight between top British welterweight Paul Daley and Japanese contender Yuya Shirai to be held on Saturday 26th February at Manchester’s MEN Arena.
BAMMA 5 will see Daley take part in his first UK fight in two years as he goes head to head with Shirai, the current DEEP Welterweight champion on a five fight win streak. With three straight wins behind him including a jaw dropping knockout over Scott Smith, Nottingham’s own Paul Daley will enter the cage with a weight of expectation from the home crowd.
The main card will also feature two titans colliding as Londoner James McSweeney tackles former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez who enters the fight fresh off the back of a 10 fight win streak, in what is sure to be a frenzied slug-fest. Three more fights are set to be added to the main card very soon.
The under-card sees the very best in British and European talent take to the cage with top lightweight contenders Daniel Thomas and AJ Wenn battling it out with the winner edging closer to a title shot.
The February event is the first of five arena events in 2011 for BAMMA who have rapidly gained a reputation as the UK’s premier MMA organisation. Details on the other events, which will take place in major cities across the UK, will be announced shortly.
BAMMA 5 follows on from BAMMA 4 which saw Alex Reid and BAMMA Middleweight Champion Tom ‘Kong” Watson go to war in a headline bout which has been widely acclaimed as one of the best British mixed martial arts fights in the history of the sport. Over 835,000 viewers tuned in to watch the fight, making it the most successful live broadcast of any MMA event in the UK.
BAMMA 5 Main Card:
Paul Daley Vs Yuya Shirai for BAMMA Welterweight Championship
Ricco Rodriguez Vs James McSweeney
With 3 more fights to be announced
Under-Card:
Daniel “Denzil” Thomas Vs AJ Wenn
Rob Mills Vs Leigh Cohoon
Jason Ball Vs Maktar Gueye
Paul Cook Vs Tom Maguire
Tim Newman Vs Diego Vital
Costas Doru Vs Liam James
Franky Slater Vs Jeremy Petley
Charlie Leary Vs Tom Breese
Ashley Bothwell, BAMMA president comments “BAMMA 5 is a heavily packed card featuring some of our most explosive fighters so an electric night is guaranteed. With the likes of Paul Daley and Ricco Rodriguez all taking to the cage, BAMMA 5 is set to blow the roof off the MEN Arena.”
Tickets are priced from £25 and are available via Ticketmaster