Wythenshawe fighter who won life-changing £100,000 set for PFL Europe co-main event

Manchester's Lewis McGrillen will fight Alan Philpott on the co-main event of PFL Europe's show at the SSE Arena in Belfast on May 10.

The 24-year-old, who hails from Wythenshawe, will return to the octagon for the first time since December when he knocked out Alexander Luster to become the PFL Europe bantamweight champion and win a life-changing £100,000.

Since signing with the PFL in early 2023, McGrillen has won five of his six bouts, four of which have come from stoppages.

McGrillen, who fights out of Manchester Top Team and boasts UFC duo Lerone Murphy and Ateba Gautier as gym-mates, will face Philpott in three five-minute rounds at the SSE Arena.

For Philpott, the bout against McGrillen will be his first in the PFL. But at 32, he has acquired plenty of experience in the sport and in 2020 was part of the camp that helped former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski prepare for his second fight with Max Holloway.

However, McGrillen is not phased by Philpott, eight years his senior, and has set his sights on making light work of the Northern Irishman.

"Alan is getting sent to the land down under, and I don’t mean Australia," said McGrillen. "Philpott is going to be a plant plot when I'm finished with him."

The duo will take to the octagon as the co-main event before Ireland's Paul Hughes faces Bruno Miranda in a homecoming show with the promotion.

Hughes, 28, suffered a unanimous decision loss to Usman Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title bout in January.

Tickets for PFL Europe's Belfast show can be found, here.