BAMMA 28

Battle Of The Irish: Norman Parke, Paul Redmond Eager For BAMMA 28

Battle Of The Irish: Norman Parke, Paul Redmond Eager For BAMMA 28

BAMMA lightweights Norman Parke and Paul Redmond discuss their upcoming title fight at BAMMA 28.

Feb 6, 2017 by Jim Edwards
Battle Of The Irish: Norman Parke, Paul Redmond Eager For BAMMA 28
BAMMA and Bellator combine forces for the second time Feb. 24, when BAMMA 28 and Bellator 173 take place on the same night at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Topping the bill for BAMMA will be a lightweight contest pitting two of the most talented 155-pound fighters in Europe against each other, with Northern Ireland's Norman Parke taking on Republic of Ireland's Paul Redmond.


Under different circumstances, two lads from the different regions of Ireland squaring off could provide the foundation for a bitter rivalry, but this isn't the case whatsoever between Parke and Redmond. Both fighters have been nothing been respectful since the fight got announced and are happy to let their fighting do the talking Feb. 24.

"The first fight I got offered was Taylor Lapilus I think, but then they came back with Paul Redmond, and I thought, 'OK. I think this fight sells a little more," Parke said at the BAMMA 28 press conference earlier this week. "To some people [it sells more] for the wrong reasons, but anyway, it's north vs. the south, and I'm feeling very optimistic about this fight.

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"It's a good matchup, and I got a great amount of respect for both Paul and his team. We've fought on the same circuit for most our careers and we've known each other for a long time. It was only a matter of time before this thing happened. We've been to the big stage, and here we're fighting for the BAMMA world title so I'm looking forward to this one."

Redmond, who fought last at BAMMA 26 in Dublin last October, is aware he may have to deal with being the bad guy with the Belfast crowd on fight night. That said, the man from Team Ryano is hoping that when it's all said and done and the better man has his hand raised, they can all put it aside and toast to a good fight.

"Yeah, I'm expecting to get lashed out there with boos to be honest," Redmond joked when asked what sort reception he was expecting from Belfast crowd. "I think I'll have a bit of support with me, I've got a lot of friends from Dublin and that are travelling up. I think the Belfast fans, the northern fans, I'm sure Norman will get his cheers, but I don't think I'll be treated all that badly on the night.

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"Look, it's all just fan banter at the end of the day. I'll go in, I'll either get booed or cheered, and then there's just two of us going to fight. Then we'll just go for a drink, you know?" 



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