Philpott to face McGrillen in PFL Belfast co-main event

Philpott will fight on home turf for the first time in 11 years

Alan Philpott will face Lewis McGrillen in the co-main event at the PFL Europe fight night in Belfast on 10 May.

The Ballymena native will fight on the same card as Paul Hughes, who takes on Bruno Miranda at SSE Arena.

The 32-year-old believes he is ready for Manchester's McGrillen, who has lost just once in his 12 professional fights.

"I've got the perfect style I believe to counter McGrillen. He's a tough fighter, he's going to come and push the pace from the start, I've got to be fit, smart and switched on at all times," Philpott said.

"He has got the power, the left hand that could put me away at any time, but whenever I face someone like that it excites me, and I will excel and show the best performance of my career."

Philpott has a professional record of 21-16 and last fought in February, when he defeated Tomoya Hirakawa in Australia.

After training in Ballymena alongside Norman Parke, Greg Loughran and the UFC's Rhys McKee, he moved to Liverpool to work with Dean Garnett.

McGrillen was the 2024 PFL Europe Bantamweight champion, knocking out Alexander Luster in the second round to win the title in Lyon, France in December.

Ten of the 24-year-old's 11professional wins have come by KO/TKO, including stopping Garnett in a thrilling semi-final of the PFL tournament.

He trains under Carl Prince at Manchester Top Team alongside UFC's Lerone Murphy.