Paul Daley vs. Rory MacDonald at Bellator 179 to Be a #1 Contender’s Fight

Either Paul Daley or Rory MacDonald will get the next shot at the Bellator welterweight championship after Lorenz Larkin. Scott Coker said on a conference call on Tuesday (via MMAjunkie) that the winner of the Bellator 179 main event will face the winner of the Bellator: NYC fight between Larkin and Douglas Lima for the championship, with the fight likely to take place in October or November.

“If you look at our division in the 170-pound weight class, it’s clearly one of our strongest divisions,” Coker said. “And I think it’s probably the strongest division of welterweights of any leagues currently out there. You look at the fight between Douglas Lima and Lorenz Larkin in New York; we have other prospects, Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Derek Anderson; we have Paul, we have Rory. … But this fight clearly will be for the No. 1 contender’s spot.”

Bellator 179 takes place on May 19th in London. The card airs via tape-delay on Spike TV.