Aaron Chalmers Signs On The Dotted Line For Bellator 200
Bellator CEO Scott Coker signalled his interest this past weekend and it looks as if BAMMA CEO David Green has granted his wish, Aaron Chalmers will fight on the upcoming Bellator 200 fight card set for May 25 in London, England.
Speaking backstage at BAMMA 34 in London this past weekend, Coker stated the following when asked about the possibility of Chalmers fighting at Bellator 200:
“You know what, I think my guys are talking to David [Green] and so we will see,” Coker said.
“I don’t know at what level they’re talking, but you know, if it’s something David would let him fight or if he’s interested in fighting, you know he might be busy with David. Who knows.”
According to multiple sources close to MMANytt, Coker was able to reach an agreement with Green and Chalmers will fight on Bellator 200.
Chalmers (3-0) has fought exclusively under the BAMMA promotional banner so far in his career and has notched up three first round stoppage finishes against Greg Jenkins, Alex Thompson and Karl Donaldson. The ex-Geordie Shore reality TV star recently quit the show after nine series with the majority of his focus said to be switching to his MMA career which started in May last year.
Whilst many in the UK MMA community have criticised Chalmers for the quality of the opponents he has faced so far in his career, this past weekend, Chalmers told MMANytt that in his next fight he wanted to face a fighter who has more experience and wins under his belt.
This request looks to have been granted and Chalmers is currently slated to face fellow Englishman, Ashley Griffiths.
Griffiths (4-7 according to mixedmartialarts.com or 4-6 according to Tapology) last fought back in December when he faced Mohammad Yahya at Bellator 191 in Newcastle, England. That evening, Griffiths lost via first round TKO and dropped his third straight fight following losses to Ross Coe and Josh Abraham on UK regional shows. The man from Hartlepool, England last won back in 2015 when he defeated Guillermo Ronodimedjo via first round TKO at MMA Total Combat 65 in August. Prior to that, Griffiths also held wins over Ellis Hampson, Tim Grieves and Nathan Thompson.
This past weekend, Chalmers stated that his next bout would be at lightweight (See HERE), however, we are led to believe the bout will take place at a catchweight of 163-pounds. Griffiths has fought almost all of his professional bouts at 155-pounds, apart from his last fight which took place at welterweight.
The bout was officially announced this morning via a press release
Bellator 200 will take place at the Wembley SSE Arena on May 25. No announcement has been made about the main event of the evening, but four other bouts have already been officially announced.
Rafael Carvalho (c) vs. Gegard Mousasi – Bellator middleweight title fight
Michael Page vs. David Rickels
Phil Davis vs. Linton Vassell
Mirko Filipovi? vs. Roy Nelson
Aaron Chalmers vs. Ashley Griffiths
Be sure to check out our YouTube Channel which features our exclusive interviews with Chalmers and Coker from this past weekend…you can subscribe to the channel by simply clicking here.
