Bellator Hawaii: Liam McGeary on ‘scruffy homeless man disguise’ in Honolulu, training with legends Tank Abbott and Rampage Jackson and why Gypsy King Tyson Fury deserves a UK-based title shot

The self-effacing qualities of British mixed martial artist Liam McGeary are not to be taken as any sense of a lack of self-belief. McGeary should be far better known as a fighter than he is in the mainstream in the UK after winning a world title in 2015, long before Michael Bisping succeeded at middleweight. 

But it's not something the 6ft 6ins tall former Bellator light-heavyweight champion bothers himself about, as Bellator MMA and the fighter himself gear up for an historic double-header event here in Hawaii this Friday and Saturday. 

McGeary, perhaps for once in his career, has found himself the right man, in the right place, at the right time.   

Since March, the Norfolk man has based himself out here in Hawaii, where he has found himself very much at home. “I’ve been living here for six months, people recognise me now when I walk round the town, even with my disguise on,” explained McGeary, who has still uses the Ultimate Training Center, Huntington Beach, California with Tiki Ghosn as his camp for the fight, where, he mentions, the likes of MMA legends Rampage Jackson and even Tank Abbott still "pokes his head in to train.” 

A disguise, though, really in Hawaii ? “Oh, my disguise is scruffy looking homeless looking dude," explained McGeary, whom your correspondent sighted late Tuesday evening with his partner and two young children strolling the quad at the Hilton Hawaiian Village which is housing fighters and teams in the most extraordinary setting as the fight league makes history with a major events on these islands in the Pacific. 

The event for Bellator closes off a highly successful year of growth, which included a streaming deal with DAZN, understood to be worth 140 million US dollars over the next three years.

DAZN stream this event at the weekend, which, apart from McGeary's contest against 'King' Mo Lawal, and native fighter Ilima Lei-Macfarlane defending her flyweight crown against Canadian Valerie Letourneau, has on its line-up the welterweight tournament quarterfinal between Neiman Gracie and Ed Ruth.  

But back to McGeary, who created history himself by winning the Bellator light-heavyweight crown in 2015, beating Emanuel Newton to become the first Briton to hold a major MMA title. 

McGeary is equally happy being a part of the Bellator family, and part of sports history on the pacific islands. “I’m excited. I know it’s the first one, a lot of people are interested. It’s sold out. I’m really looking forward to competing on Hawaiian soil, and there's no question it's a big deal here. There’s a lot of hype about it. Everyone is buzzing. It’s good - good for Bellator, good for Hawaii. Once I get in the cage and do what I do -  more people here will know who I am.”

McGeary finds himself up against ‘King’ Mo Lawal, a foe who is also a friend. It should be a fascinating battle, Lawal one of the most awkward opponents in MMA, with McGeary rarely failing to be a crowd-pleaser with his aggressive brand of stand-up brawling and adeptness at jiu-jitsu on the ground.   

“Yes. This was supposed to go down a year ago but injury has kept us apart. Now we get to throw down a year later. I’m excited,” McGeary told me.

Title contention is not something on his mind. Not that he admits, at any rate.  “To be honest, I’m just going to take it as it is. "Afterwards I’ll think about what I’m doing. I’m just going to take it as one fight at a time. I’ve had bad luck and I want to put that behind me. Move forward. Mo is in front of me and we’ll see what comes afterwards.”

Nor was he demoralised by time out through injury. “No, no. Things happen. It was almost a year ago and a lot of things change in a year. People change. Mentalities change.  I’ve trained really hard, but I’ve found a team thats focused just around myself. I’ve got to a position to where I needed to be. I needed to be in that position to be where I am now.”

UTC was an experience, too. "The coaches there were great, and the training partners I’ve had in has been an experience. I’ve had Rampage there. It’s really fun with him. Tank Abbott pokes his head in to train. It’s cool bumping in and getting the training tips off him. My training partners have helped me go to the next level.”

So, too, has  fatherhood, he admits. “Exactly. Things change in a year. Having kids changed me. Now I’ve got kids it’s something I can focus on and really know why I’m doing this. Slugging it out in the gym for God knows how many hours, it’s something to focus on.”

There is something of the half-caveman, half-gentleman about McGeary, I venture to suggest. Laughing, he adds:  “Exactly. The thing is with my kids they like to play rough so I can be caveman with them.”

Fight fan McGeary also watched heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury’s battle of Los Angeles with Deontay Wilder ten days ago. It was controversial and also dramatic, as they drew, though many felt Briton Fury, who had battled depression and lost 140lbs to get back to his best, won the contest.

“I watched the highlights and he rose form the dead. He was out cold from the footage I saw and he then just literally came back up," McGeary told me. "I can’t believe he’s 30. I’m older than him. He was unlucky with the result but he seemed in good spirits after the fight. They’ll have the rematch I think, but I believe the next one should be in England, or at least on neutral turf. If they don’t want to do it in England then it should be on neutral turf where no one is going to be persuaded. Sometimes that happens in England as well. The judges have been known to sway the other way.”

One thing McGeary will be keen to do on Saturday night, here in Honolulu, is not to let the fight go to the cards. Tough call, especially against Lawal. But it is time for a statement for the new-found Pacific island man.