After a month away from action, Bellator MMA returns to the Windy City once again with a massive 16-fight card. The night will be capped off with a pair of title fights as Sergio Pettis returns to in-cage competition for the first time in 18-months as he looks to defend his bantamweight title against Bellator all-time great Patrício Pitbull in the co-main event. The main event will feature a showdown at light heavyweight as “The Soldier of God” Yoel Romero pushes for championship gold perhaps for the last time as he challenges incumbent champion Vadim Nemkov.
Bellator 297 Fight Card Preview
Vadim Nemkov vs Yoel Romero
Beware the dog 👀@YoelRomeroMMA sends a message to light-heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov. #Bellator297 pic.twitter.com/Ty8hfVdfE0
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 13, 2023
Despite a highly decorated wrestling career, 46-year-old Yoel Romero has never topped the MMA mountain. Falling short in all of his attempts at a title in the UFC, Romero has scored back-to-back third round finishes to secure a title shot against Team Fedor’s Vadim Nemkov.
Nemkov has been relatively unchallenged in his time with Bellator. Debuting to Scott Coker‘s promotion in 2017, Nemkov has earned eight victories with five finishes. The 30-year-old Russian defeated then double champion Ryan Bader for the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship at Bellator 244. At Bellator 277, Nemkov faced Corey Anderson. Anderson was arguably beating Nemkov in their $1 million grand prix tournament final fight, but an accidental clash of heads would result in a cut above the left eye of Nemkov, resulting in a “no contest”. The pair of light heavyweights would run it back at Bellator 288, where Nemkov would top Anderson to a unanimous decision victory.
Sergio Pettis vs Patrício Pitbull
This fight is the proverbial onion of the fight card. Fight fans have so many layers to analyze when considering this bantamweight title clash. Pettis is coming off of a 18-month layoff due to an ACL injury. One must wonder if there will be any visible “cage rust” from his time outside of competition. Prior to the injury, the younger brother of MMA great Anthony Pettis earned the ‘Knockout of the Year” accolade amongst most MMA publications for his dramatic comeback finish over Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator 272 in December 2021. Pettis has never been defeated in his tenure with Bellator, having earned four victories amongst two finishes.
𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 ⏳@PatricioPitbull aims to become the FIRST 3️⃣-weight world champion at #Bellator297.
Pettis 🆚 Pitbull | Friday, 9pm ET/6pm PT | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/7d5bEkFb8z
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 13, 2023
For Patrício Pitbull, this will be the first fight in his career competing at bantamweight. Traditionally, a drop in weight in the latter part of the career of mixed martial artists is virtually unheard of, but, if it is done, does not usually result in success.
Pitbull is the current Bellator Featherweight World Champion after reclaiming his title with a victory over A.J. McKee at Bellator 277. Since Pettis’ last fight, Pitbull has competed three times, defeating Ádám Borics, Kleber Koike Erbst, and the aforementioned McKee.
When considering the styles of both men, this fight becomes even more complex. Both men have world class standup and black belt level jiu-jitsu. For Pitbull, one would assume he will have a size advantage in their encounter and will look to close the distance and grind out Pettis to a victory. The 35-year-old Brazilian has twelve decision victories amongst his 35 career wins.
For Pettis, earning Pitbull’s respect early, managing the distance, and staying technical, will be the Roufusport athlete’s best shot at retaining championship gold.
Corey Anderson vs Phil Davis
The best pair of light heavyweights outside of the main event title bout will meet as #1 ranked Corey Anderson will do battle with #2 ranked “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis.
Both men have had stints in the UFC and have fought with the highest levels of competition. Anderson lost his last bout against Nemkov, with many pundits looking to his inactivity as the leading factor in the defeat. “Overtime” will have to crank up the activity in order to get his hand raised in victory.
Will “Mr. Wonderful” stop Anderson? 👊@PhilMrWonderful returns after a year out to face @CoreyA_MMA LIVE from the @WintrustArena in Chicago 🇺🇸#Bellator297 | Fri, June 16th | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/o0bp1Ixu0T
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 11, 2023
Representing the blue corner, the 38-year-old Davis will be competing for the first time in over a year as his last fight came at Bellator 276 in March 2022. In that bout, Davis would sweep Julius Anglickas on the scorecards to his 24th career victory. The former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion still has some of the best wrestling across Bellator’s seven male weight divisions and will most likely look to utilize such against his opponent on Friday night.
It is hard to envision a finish in this fight as both men are so incredibly skilled and battle tested. Expect to hear the judges’ scorecards in this one.
Daniel James vs Gokhan Saricam
Earning one of the most crowd dazzling victories in Bellator history at Bellator 288, Daniel “The American Predator” James has seen a resurgence in his nine year professional career. After going 10-6-1 in his first seventeen fights, the 41-year-old heavyweight has earned five straight TKO finishes, having stopped Marcelo Golm in the main event of Bellator 293.
𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 👊🔥
A 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 heavyweight feature fight between @djames1981 and Gokhan Saricam is heading to the @WintrustArena, June 16th 💥
Who will win in Chicago? 🤔 #Bellator297 pic.twitter.com/wiqGw9oziK
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) June 10, 2023
Turkey’s Gokhan Saricam is 4-2 in his time with Bellator, having found victories over the likes of Said Sowma and Charlie Milner. Both of these men possess hard-hitting knockout power, so fans should not blink in this heavyweight main card opener.
Win a win, either man could very well see himself in the heavyweight title picture.
The Rest of the Card
Bellator 297 features a 12-fight preliminary card showcasing fan favorites like Emmanuel Sanchez and Cody Law and a handful of undefeated prospects in Jordan Newman, Archie Colgan, Timur Khizriev, Shamil Nikaev, Norbert Novenyi Jr., Wadmir Gouvea, and Ramazan Kuramagomedov.
Stay tuned as MMASucka has all the coverage fight fans need this week for Bellator 297 with live coverage Friday night.
