The 6-foot-6 Brit in his latest assignment will lock horns with Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 194 on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, where a win figures to keep him in the discussion at 205 pounds. Their matchup plays third fiddle to the Roy Nelson-Matt Mitrione headliner and Patricky Freire-Derek Campos co-main event.
Ahead of McGeary’s critical battle with Nemkov, here are some of the numbers that have come to define him:
1: Decision win to his credit. McGeary has gone the distance in victory only once, a unanimous verdict over Emanuel Newton at Bellator 134 bringing him the promotion’s light heavyweight crown.
1: Championship reign. McGeary held the Bellator light heavyweight belt from Feb. 27, 2015 to Nov. 4, 2016.
1: Successful title defense. McGeary retained his 205-pound championship by submitting Ultimate Fighting Championship hall of famer Tito Ortiz with an inverted triangle choke at Bellator 142 in September 2015.
2: Bellator appearances in Europe. McGeary defeated Brett McDermott by second-round technical knockout in a 215-pound catchweight clash at Bellator 173 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before losing to Vassell by submission at Bellator 179 in London.
2.5: Submission attempts per 15 minutes, according to FightMetric.
3: Bellator tournament wins. McGeary defeated Mike Mucitelli, Egidijus Valavicius and Kelly Anundson in the 2014 Bellator Summer Series light heavyweight tournament. He won all three fights inside one round.
5: Victories by submission. They account for 42 percent of his career total. McGeary’s victims were Anundson, Ortiz, Najim Wali, Shaun Lomas and Grzegorz Janus.
8: First-round finishes on his resume. McGeary has delivered five of those wins in 91 seconds or less.
10: Consecutive wins to start his career. McGeary debuted on May 8, 2010 and pieced together a 10-fight winning streak before bowing to Davis at Bellator 163 six-plus years later.
11: Submission attempts in a single fight, a Bellator record. McGeary set the mark against Newton in their five-round encounter a little less than three years ago.
35: Years of age. McGeary was born in Norfolk, England, on Oct. 4, 1982.