The light-heavyweight championship fight at Bellator 297 will be headlined by an ex-UFC star in Chicago.
Bellator has revealed that Bellator 297 will take place at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, and that an exciting fight card will be present.
Yoel Romero will face off against current light heavyweight king Vadim Nemkov in the main event. After losing to Phil Davis by unanimous decision in his promotional debut in 2021, the former middleweight championship contender for the UFC has since made a turnaround.
“The Soldier of God” has won his last two fights, defeating Melvin Manhoef in the third round and Alex Polizzi via third-round TKO. The champion was forced to cancel the championship match, which was initially going to take place on the promotion’s network debut on CBS.
Since entering the promotion, Nemkov has gone undefeated. He most recently won the light heavyweight Grand Prix after defeating Corey Anderson by unanimous decision in the finals. Among his victories are a submission victory over Pedro Carvalho, two victories by decision over Phil Davis, and a TKO victory over the current heavyweight king Ryan Bader.
The reigning featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire will take on bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis in the co-main event of Bellator 297, which promises to be just as thrilling.
Since “Pitbull” moved up and beat Michael Chandler by first-round TKO to become a two-division champion in 2019 before relinquishing the title to return to featherweight, he will have the chance to become the first three-division champion. Pettis recently ended a protracted layoff after defeating Kyoji Horiguchi to effectively defend his bantamweight title in December 2021.
Pettis is currently on a five-fight winning streak that began with his last UFC contest in 2019; in contrast, “Pitbull” is currently on a three-fight winning streak that has seen him reclaim the featherweight championship from A.J. McKee, defended his title against Adam Borics, and defeat Rizin featherweight champion Kleber Koike Erbst via unanimous decision.
At Bellator 297, Patricio Pitbull tries to become the first three-division king in MMA history.
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, the current featherweight champion, will compete against Sergio Pettis for the bantamweight title at Bellator 297 on June 16. Bellator made the announcement public today.
To become the first three-division winner, the current featherweight champion will attempt to break ground. Given his prior opponents and victories, it would be a historic victory that would solidify his status as the best fighter in the history of the promotion.
In the finals, Patchy Mix and interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots will duel for a $1 million purse and a title chance against the victor of Pettis vs. Freire. Given that Bellator 297 takes place less than two months after the championships, the Grand Prix winner won’t have to wait for very long.
It will be intriguing to see if Freire succeeds in capturing a third championship or if losing an additional 10 pounds will have an impact on his performance.
Unquestionably the best combatant in Bellator history is Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. He has been a pillar of the organisation and one of their most illustrious competitors. At Bellator 221, he became the first fighter to hold dual titles in a major MMA company by submitting Michael Chandler in the opening round. Due to what they had achieved, the fight, which pitted two of the best fighters in the promotion against one another, was unquestionably a super fight for the promotion at the time.
With a first-round TKO victory to claim the lightweight title, Freire dispatched of “Iron” with ease. To return to 145 pounds for the featherweight Grand Prix, he eventually gave up the championship.
