Liam McGeary

Liam McGeary (born 4 October 1982) is an English professional mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's light heavyweight division. He is the current Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. McGeary is ranked as the #9 light heavyweight in the world by sherdog.com.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

McGeary began training in mixed martial arts 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 armbar submission and then picked up a knockout win before signing with Bellator MMA.

Bellator MMA

In his Bellator debut, McGeary faced Anton Talamantes at Bellator 95 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 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. He won via submission due to an armbar early in the first round.

Bellator MMA

Bellator MMA (formerly known as Bellator Fighting Championships) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the United States. Bellator was founded in 2008 by Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. Bellator features "The Toughest Tournament in Sports", which has a single-elimination format that awards the winner of each eight-person or four-person tournament a check for $100,000 and a guaranteed world title fight against the current Bellator world champion in the applicable weight class.

In December 2011, Viacom acquired a majority stake of Bellator and in January 2013, all Bellator events began airing on Spike TV. Bellator produced nearly 25 live events annually until 2015, as well as shoulder programming including fighter features, highlight shows and reality-based programming.

In May 2014, Bellator hosted the company's inaugural pay-per-view event from the Lander's Center. The event featured a Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Final fight between Rampage Jackson and King Mo, Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks for the Lightweight Interim World Title, Alexander Shlemenko vs. Tito Ortiz, the Bellator Season 10 Heavyweight Tournament Final between Alexander Volkov vs. Blagoi Ivanov and a feature fight between Ricky Rainey vs. Michael Page.

Liam

Liam is a short form of the Irish name "Uilliam", itself a derivative of the Frankish name "Willahelm".

Liam has been one of the most popular names for boys in the United States since 2010.

Etymology

The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: vila ("will" or "resolution"); and helma ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these two elements effectively means "helmet of will" or "Guardian".

When the Frankish Empire was divided into two parts, the name developed differently in each region. In the French half, Willahelm developed first into "Guilielm", and then into "Guillaume", whereas in the German half, the root form developed into "Wilhelm". This latter form was further developed by the English into the familiar modern form "William".

Origin

Although the names Willahelm and Guillaume were well known in England prior to 1066, through Saxon dealings with Guillaume, Duc de Normandie, it was viewed as a "foreign" name. The Norman Conquest had a dramatic effect on English names. Many, if not most Saxon names, such as Ethelred, died out under the massive influx of French ones. Since the Royal Court now rang with names such as Alain, Guy, Aeginald and William, they were quickly adopted by the English, the Welsh, and eventually the Irish.

Tito Ortiz

Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (English: /tɪtɵ ɔərtɪs/; born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist and personality fighting for Bellator MMA. In the MMA world, he is known for his stint with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars. Ortiz ultimately became the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock.

Outside of his fighting career, Ortiz is the CEO of the Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line. He also owns an MMA training gym called Punishment Training Center, which is located in his hometown of Huntington Beach, California. On July 7, 2012, Ortiz became the ninth inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Background

Philip Davis

Philip Davis or Phil Davis may refer to:

See also