Top UK MMA prospect Norbert Novenyi Jr has booked his first American fight since before the coronavirus pandemic on the undercard of Bellator 297 against Kamil Oniszczuk.
Mirror Fighting can confirm that the London Shootfighters middleweight will travel to Chicago for a prominent spot on the June 16 card underneath the legendary Yoel Romero's effort at light-heavyweight gold against Vadim Nemkov. He faces 9-2 Pole Oniszczuk, who most recently was out against Costello Van Steenis last October in a losing Bellator debut.
Novenyi Jr is famously a teammate of YouTube star KSI, and will be in the corner for his fellow London Shootfighter's bout with Joe Fournier at the OVO Arena Wembley on May 13. He'll then travel to America for his first bout since 2019 on US soil, and his second of the year after a lengthy layoff.
The Hungarian-born Brit was forced out for a year after a massive upset victory over hometown hero Will Fleury in Dublin in 2019 due to the pandemic and then missed another two-and-a-half years with injury. But he is keen to remain active after stopping Andy Mandolo within a round back in February to bring his record to 6-0.
Novenyi is the son of 1980 Olympic gold medalist in wrestling Norbert Sr, and has established himself as one of the more exciting prospects on the British scene during his run with Bellator. "I think he's undefeated, he's got an awesome style," coach Alexis Demetriades told Mirror Fighting .
"He can wrestle, he can do jiu-jitsu to a black belt level and he can punch. So if people aren't excited about this kid I don't know what they're going to be excited about."
Are you excited about Norbert Novenyi Jr's return to action? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Elsewhere on the undercard, Mirror Fighting understands that Richie Smullen, former UFC featherweight and teammate of Conor McGregor, will return to America to face unbeaten No.8-ranked featherweight Timur Khizriev. The Irishman returned to the promotion with an hard-fought hometown win over Piotr Niedzielski in Dublin back in February.
The event already features two world title fights, with Romero and Nemkov a mouth-watering clash at the Wintrust Arena. Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire will also look to make history by winning the world title in an unprecedented third weight class when he cuts to bantamweight to face Sergio Pettis.
Another big undercard match-up that has already been announced sees Phil Davis and Corey Anderson, both UFC veterans, compete at light-heavyweight. Karl Moore, Smullen's teammate, also returns against Alex Polizzi to round out the currently announced fights.
