Cage fighter Martin Stapleton en-route to America

Photo: Journeaux

Martin Stapleton (right) beating Tommy Maguire in the final of the 2012 Cage Contender Fight Stars tournament

Martin Stapleton, Rochdale's professional cage fighter, is en-route to America where he will make his Bellator MMA debut in the lightweight tournament.

The eight man tournament will see Martin take on Californian Saad Awad in the Rose Garden Arena, Portland, USA on 27 September.

Martin recently signed a six-fight deal with Bellator MMA and this will be his first fight of the contract.

A former Royal Marines Commando, he is currently on a eight-fight winning streak; he was the 2012 Cage Contender Fight Stars eight-man tournament winner, having defeated Jamie Rogers and Arnold Quero before beating Tommy Maguire in the final.

He holds a professional MMA record of 12-1-0, with four of his twelve wins coming by TKO/KO, three via submission and five by decision.

If Martin wins his fight against Saad Awad, he will move on to the semi-finals in October.

Winning the tournament would make him the first British person to win a world title.

Following his departure for America, Martin's wife Hayley said: “Stapes is now en-route to the USA. Next time I see him he'll be one step closer to being a world champion."

Martin's fight is live on the internet channel Spike TV at approx 1.00/2.00am this Saturday (28 September) morning.

Martin's Facebook page can be found at:

https://www.facebook.com/martin50calstapletonMMA