Liam McGeary (born 4 October 1982) is an English professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competed in Bellator's

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division. He is a former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

McGeary began training in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

in 2009, and held an amateur record of 1-1 before making his professional debut in 2010. He won the first two fights of his professional career via submission and picked up a knockout win before signing with

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

. McGeary competed in

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

in November 2009 and knocked out Kieron Vance in the first round of the Kickboxing Fight Show heavyweight division at the Wolversdene Club in

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the Test, and is situated alongside the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, west of the town of Basingsto ...

. McGeary took part in the 2013

IBJJF The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship, Pan Jiu ...

World Championships, in the purple belt/super heavyweight division. McGeary won the first three matches, by armbar (round 1), triangle-choke (round 2) and armbar (round 3), before losing in the 4th round by points. McGeary won the London Seni BJJ 2010 tournament in the super heavyweight/blue belt division.

Bellator MMA

In his Bellator debut, McGeary faced Anton Talamantes at

Bellator 95 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

on 4 April 2013 and won via TKO at 78 seconds of the first round. In his next appearance for the organization at

Bellator 100 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

on 20 September 2013, McGeary faced off against Beau Tribolet and won via knockout only 27 seconds into the fight. McGeary faced Najim Wali on 15 November 2013 at

Bellator 108 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight cha ...

. He won via submission due to an armbar early in the first round. In the summer of 2014, McGeary was announced as a participant in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament. He faced

Mike Mucitelli Michael Mucitelli (born December 7, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competed in Bellator's Light Heavyweight division. Background Mucitelli was born in Rochester, New York, but his family moved to Syracuse, New York w ...

in the opening quarterfinals at Bellator 118 and won via knockout in the first round. Later, at

Bellator 122 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

, he faced

Egidijus Valavicius Egidijus is a Lithuanian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English language name Giles. List of people named Egidijus *Egidijus Balčiūnas (born 1975), Lithuanian sprint canoer *Egidijus Bičkauskas (born 1955), Lithuanian politicia ...

in the semifinals, he won the fight by TKO in the first round. McGeary faced

Kelly Anundson Kelly Anundson (born August 29, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2010, Anundson has previously competed for Bellator, and was also a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 19. Background Born and raised in ...

in the finals at

Bellator 124 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

on 12 September 2014. He won the fight via inverted triangle choke in the first round. McGeary faced

Emanuel Newton Emanuel Newton (born February 1, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in Bellator's Light Heavyweight division, where he is a former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion. He has also competed for WEC, King of the ...

for his Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship on 27 February 2015 at

Bellator 134 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision to become the new Bellator Light Heavyweight champion. During the course of the fight, McGeary attempted several submission attempts, including nearly finishing Newton in the first and third rounds with a triangle choke. In all, he set the record (11) for the number of submission attempts in Bellator history. In March 2015, McGeary signed a multi-fight and multi-year contract extension with the promotion. McGeary made his first title defense against

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (; born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist and politician. He is currently signed to the Combate Americas promotion. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UF ...

on 19 September 2015 at Bellator 142. He submitted Ortiz with an inverted triangle choke in the first round to retain his championship. After over a year away from the sport due to a knee injury, McGeary faced Phil Davis at Bellator 163 on 4 November 2016. He lost the bout and his title via unanimous decision. After losing his title, McGeary returned to the cage in the main event at Bellator 173. McGeary saw his opponent switch three times as he was originally supposed to face Chris Fields. However, on 20 February, it was announced that Fields had to withdraw from the match due to injury. The initial replacement for Fields was announced as Bellator newcomer Vladimir Filipovic. However, Filipovic also was pulled from the bout due to visa issues. McGeary eventually faced Bellator newcomer

Brett McDermott Brett McDermott (born 10 September 1978) is an English mixed martial artist, and former professional rugby league footballer. In rugby he represented Ireland, and played club level for every Cumbrian clubs except Carlisle Border Raiders. In MMA, ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. McGeary faced

Linton Vassell Linton Vassell (born 3 June 1983) is an English mixed martial artist, who competes in the Heavyweight division of Bellator. A professional since 2008, he has also competed for UCMMA and Cage Warriors. He is the former UCMMA Light Heavyweight ...

at Bellator 179 on 19 May 2017. He lost the fight via arm-triangle choke submission in the third round. This was the first stoppage loss of his professional MMA career. McGeary was expected to face

Muhammed Lawal Oklahoma State Cowboys Central Oklahoma Bronchos Muhammed Lawal (born January 11, 1981), also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Major League Wr ...

at Bellator 185 on 20 October 2017. However, Lawal pulled out of the bout on 2 October due to an undisclosed injury. He was then scheduled to face late replacement

Bubba McDaniel Robert "Bubba" McDaniel (born May 3, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly fought as a Middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he went (1–2). He was a member of FX's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team ...

, however, McGeary pulled out of the fight, also due to injury. McGeary faced

Vadim Nemkov Vadim Aleksandrovich Nemkov (russian: Вадим Александрович Немков; born 20 June 1992) is a Russian people, Russian professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and a four-time Sambo (martial art), Combat Sambo Worl ...

on 16 February 2018 at Bellator 194. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round due to leg kicks. McGeary faced former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion

on 15 December 2018 at Bellator 213. He won the fight via TKO in the third round. McGeary next faced Phil Davis at Bellator 220 on April 27, 2019. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round. On July 10, 2021, it was announced that he was no longer under contract with Bellator.

Personal life

McGeary is married and has children.

Championships and accomplishments

Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded ...

(One time) ***One successful title defense ** Bellator 2014 Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament Championship **Most submission attempts in a single fight (11) **Tied (with Phil Davis) for most wins in Bellator Light Heavyweight division (nine) **Tied (with Phil Davis and

) for most bouts in Bellator Light Heavyweight division (12) *

MMAJunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Ma ...

**2015 Breakout Fighter of the Year **September 2014 Submission of the Month vs.

**September 2015 Submission of the Month vs.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 13–4 , Phil Davis , TKO (jaw injury) , Bellator 220 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:11 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–3 ,

, TKO (punches) , Bellator 213 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:53 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–3 ,

, TKO (leg kicks) , Bellator 194 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:02 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–2 ,

, Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Bellator 179 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:28 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , Bellator 173 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:06 ,

Belfast, Northern Ireland Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 11–1 , Phil Davis , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 163 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 ,

, Submission (inverted triangle choke) , Bellator 142: Dynamite 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:41 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Submission (inverted triangle choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:47 ,

Plymouth Township, Michigan Plymouth Township, officially the Charter Township of Plymouth, is a charter township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 27,524 at the 2010 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by the township but is administ ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, TKO (knees and punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, KO (punch) , Bellator 118 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:22 ,

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Najim Wali , Submission (armbar) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:31 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Beau Tribolet , KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:27 ,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Anton Talamantes , TKO (elbows and punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:18 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Walter Howard , KO (punch) , Ring of Combat 41 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:41 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Shaun Lomas , Submission (triangle armbar) , Island Rumble 3: Ballistic , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:16 ,

Fort Regent Fort Regent is a 19th-century fortification and leisure centre on Mont de la Ville (Town Hill), in Saint Helier, Jersey, St. Helier, Jersey. The fort is in close proximity to the fortified South Hill Engineers Barracks at La Collette Power Statio ...

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, UK , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Grzegorz Janus , Submission (armbar) , Battle of Jersey , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

, UK ,

References

External links

*
Liam McGeary coverage
SBNation.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McGeary, Liam 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from King's Lynn English male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black British sportspeople Bellator MMA champions English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu