Lisa Ward vs Aisling Daly Now Likely For Bellator 26A 115-pound women’s tournament bout between Lisa Ward and Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly, originally set for Bellator 25, will no longer take place on the August 19th card. Bellator officials confirmed the news with MMARising.com today and Daly posted a message on Facebook stating that the fight will now take place at Bellator 26 one week later.

The inaugural Bellator women’s tournament kicks off with two opening-round matchups at Bellator 24, with a third bout pitting Jessica Pene against Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto still scheduled for the Bellator 25 event.

Ward (13-5-0) was victorious in her Bellator debut when she choked out Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto – younger sister of fellow tournament participant Zoila – with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their Bellator 22 bout. The ground specialist has picked up nine wins to date by way of submission and possesses one of the most varied arsenals of submission holds in the women’s division. She enters the Bellator tournament as one of the frontrunners to advance to the finals, but must first get past a tough test in Daly, who has yet to taste defeat.

Daly (9-0-0), the top female fighter in Ireland, has put together a series of victories while competing in Western Europe and will now look to make the transition to high-profile, televised events in North America. Just one of Daly’s fights has gone the distance and the talented striker has worked diligently to improve her ground game. She holds five knockouts and three submissions to her credit and is coming off of a victory over Strikeforce signee and 2010 Upcoming Glory Tournament Champion Maiju Kujala. Daly will take a big step up when she faces the much more experienced Ward.

Bellator 26 takes place on August 26th at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Missouri. Bellator officials stated that the Ward-Daly bout may be switched to a different card – possibly Bellator 24 or 27 – but it will definitely not take place at Bellator 25. The remainder of the opening round of the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament remains unchanged.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)