Ian O'Neill 
Mixed Martial Arts events are coming at us thick and fast these days and the next stop is Bellator 247 on Thursday October 1st. After the success of the Irish in Milan last week, there are a few more Irish fighters that will be looking to do the same this week.
Main Card
Inside the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy, Paul Daley (42-17-2) and Derek Anderson (16-3-0) square off in the main event. Daley is looking to make it three wins in a row stepping in here to fight Anderson. “Semtex” is what they like to call Paul Daley and with 31 knockouts to his name you can see why. Across from Daley will be Derek Anderson who will also coming in here with a two fight win streak. Anderson is 7-3 under the Bellator banner and has not won or lost a fight by stoppage since 2015.
Prior to that, Hungarian Middleweight prospect Norbert Novenyi Jr. (4-0) steps in to challenge Laïd Zerhouni (7-5), who fights out of France, in what will be the latter’s Bellator debut. Zerhouni is coming off the back of a Rear Naked Choke win in his last bout while Novenyi Jr. looked massively impressive last time out when beating Will Fleury over three rounds. He has finished all the rest of his professional fights so far in his career. There is a big future ahead of the English-based Hungarian and another win on Thursday will add to his starpower.
Also, Dutch fighter Denise Kielholtz (5-2) and UK competitor Kate Jackson (11-4-1) throw down in strawweight encounter. Kielholtz has fought on a couple of Bellator kickboxing cards with mixed results. She fights her seventh professional MMA bout for bellator and she will come in against Jackson here with a three fight win streak. Jackson comes in here off the back of her loss to champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. She has fought the likes of Tatiana Suarez, Valérie Létourneau and Joanna Jędrzejczyk early in her career and also had a brief and unsuccessful stint in ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ series. With a win on Thursday, Jackson can put herself right back into title contention.
Irish interest on the main cards follows Wexford man Brian Moore (12-7) who returns after almost 18 months since his last fight. The SBG fighter goes up against Italian Simone D’Anna (7-2). D’Anna will make his Bellator debut on the night, with five finishes so far in his MMA career. Moore steps back into the Bellator cage for the first time since his impressive victory over Son Le Binh at Bellator Birmingham early last year. He has nothing but title shots in his sights and an impressive win here could catapult him right into featherweight contendership contention.
Prelims
Undefeated Chris Duncan (6-0), from Scotland looks to keep his unbeaten streak alive when he goes up against Brazilian Iamik Furtado (6-3) in a lightweight contest. Mandy Böhm (6-0) makes her Bellator debut. The German steps into the cage to fight Griet Eeckhout (5-3-1), the Belgian also makes her Bellator debut.
Irish eye’s will be on the second bout of the prelims where SBG man Blaine O’Driscoll (8-3) returns to action in the flyweight division. After his impressive win last time out O’Driscoll squares off against Salah Elkas (6-6). Elkas has a win over recently dethroned Cage Warriors champion Samir Faiddine. O’Driscoll is coming off a sensational knockout over Ezzoubair Bouarsa and will be looking to add to his highlight reel with another win on Thursday Night.
See the official card in full below.
Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson Welterweight
N. Novenyi Jr. vs. Laïd Zerhouni Middleweight
Denise Kielholtz vs. Kate Jackson Strawweight
Brian Moore vs. Simone D ‘Anna Featherweight
Lewis Long vs. Gianni Melillo Welterweight
Mandy Böhm vs. Griet Eeckhout Strawweight
Chris Duncan vs. Iamik Furtado 160 lbs Catchweight
Walter Gahadza vs. Uroš Jurišič Welterweight
Kywan Gracie vs. C. Gnusariov Welterweight
Lee Chadwick vs. E. Macedo Light Heavyweight
Blaine O’Driscoll vs. Salah Elkas Strawweight
Jade Jorand vs. M. Chochlikova Atomweight
