Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix highlights MMA’s return to Showtime
It is a dawn of a new era for Bellator MMA, thanks in part to a familiar face. In a groundbreaking conference, the promotion announced a deal with Showtime, working together to produce fights for the foreseeable future.
This is not the first time Showtime has been involved in the MMA scene. EliteXC was showcased on the platform along with Strikeforce, with Bellator’s Scott Coker involved with the latter all those years ago. It will be a collaboration of boxing and MMA with Bellator on Friday’s and Showtime Boxing on Saturday’s. Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza was on hand at the press conference and praised Bellator for all they have accomplished.
“When you look at the trajectory of Bellator, who have been able to sign free agents, their ability to build new stars and contribute to the sport, the time just felt right for us to combine forces,” Espinoza stated.
There were also several big fight announcements outside of the Showtime deal. On one side it was the continuation of the Featherweight Grand Prix, while on the other it was the announcement of a stacked Light Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio Freire will face off against Emmanuel Sanchez on April 2. This will be a semi-finals bout, with the winner facing A.J. McKee sometime in 2021. Bellator is hoping the finals will take place by late July.
Another major announcement was Vadim Nemkov running the gauntlet in an eight-man tournament. Here are the competitors and the matchups for the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix:
April 9
- Ryan Bader v. Lyoto Machida
- Corey Anderson v. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
April 16
- Nemkov v. Phil Davis
- Anthony Johnson v. Yoel Romero
The semi-finals for both fights are looking to take place in July with the finals in October. Bader, the former champion, will hold onto his Bellator Heavyweight Championship during this time. He has not defended his title since 2019 when he faced Cheick Kongo. Coker discussed the opportunity of an interim title fight depending on how Bader does but didn’t get into specifics.
It is unknown what the rest of the heavyweight division will be doing during this time. The same could be said for the lightweight division, where Freire is also the champion.
As far as the other competitors go, Bellator will be pitting both of its top free agent signings against one another in Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson. Romero is on a three-fight losing streak, having just lost to Israel Adesanya in March for the UFC Middleweight Title. Johnson last fought in 2017, losing to Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title.
Yagshimuradov is a wild card here as he is making his Bellator debut. The 31-year-old from Turkmenistan is on an eight-fight win streak and has an 18–5–1 record. Eleven of his wins have come via knockout.
Finally, on May 7 at Bellator 258 there will be a Bellator Bantamweight Title bout between champion Juan Archuleta and Sergio Pettis. Archuleta just won the vacant title in September against Patrick Mix. Pettis made his Bellator debut in 2020 and is on a three-fight win streak.
After a long retirement, MMA will look to come back to Showtime with a bang!
