Paul Daley and Ronnie Mann Added to Cage Warriors 57 Line-Up

Long-running U.K. promotion Cage Warriors has secured two Bellator fighters for what looks set to be one of the best English MMA cards of the year. Ronnie Mann and Paul Daley will both be in action at the show, which is set for the Echo Arena in Liverpool on July 20.

The main event of Cage Warriors 57 sees Daley (32-12-2) take on Poland’s Lukasz Chlewicki (10-2) in a welterweight clash. It will be the first time the UFC and Strikeforce veteran has fought in his native England since 2011.

Daley signed for Bellator a year ago and made a successful promotional debut, stopping Rudy Bears in the opening round. Visa issues stemming from an ongoing legal case have since prevented “Semtex” from returning to fight in the U.S.

He has kept busy in the interim, registering stoppage wins over Patrick Vallee in Ireland and Rodrigo Ribeiro in Dubai. Daley will be looking for a fourth consecutive victory when he takes on Chlewicki who holds a black belt in Judo.

It is almost a decade since Daley’s first fight under the Cage Warriors banner and the 30-year-old is happy to be returning to his roots and competing in his homeland again.

“I’m excited to be fighting back in the U.K. again and back at Cage Warriors, which is Europe’s premier show. I pretty much started my career here and it’s great to see how the promotion has grown. I’m happy to be part of it and I can’t wait to entertain all my supporters,” he said.

Daley is only on loan from Bellator, but Mann (21-6-1) will have a permanent place on the roster after Cage Warriors agreed to pay a fee of $5,000 to purchase his contract from the American promotion. He signed a five-fight deal earlier this month and is set to fight on July 20 against an as yet unnamed opponent.

Mann reached the semifinals of the Bellator 145-pound tournament in 2011 only to drop a unanimous decision to Pat Curran. He moved down to bantamweight earlier this year, but was beaten by Rodrigo Lima, his third loss in four fights.

The Cage Warriors 57 card is also set to feature a number of top English prospects including featherweight Chris Fishgold (8-0) and welterweights Danny Roberts (8-1), Jack Mason (24-11), Aaron Wilkinson (10-6) and Matt Inman (10-5).

(Follow @jamesgoyder on Twitter)

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