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Bellator 173: McGeary vs. McDermott was held on February 24, 2017 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV. The event was originally scheduled to be headlined by a bout between Liam McGeary and Chris Fields. However, on February 20, it was announced that Fields had to withdraw from the match due to injury. The initial replacement for Fields was announced as Bellator newcomer Vladimir Filipovic. However, Filipovic also was pulled from the bout due to visa issues. McGeary eventually faced Bellator newcomer Brett McDermott.