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The final Bellator MMA event of 2022 features some of the company's greatest competitors. The promotion's final three events of the year will feature a potentially decisive end to the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, the next phases in the Bantamweight World Grand Prix, and an intriguing cross-over spectacle with Rizin.
Bellator was all ready to conclude the last round of a 12-month Grand Prix tournament back in April. Vadim Nemkov's world championship belt was on the line during the set of five-round fights among eight of the best light heavyweight fighters in the promotion.
Nemkov defeated Phil Davis in the first round before defeating Julius Anglickas (replacing Anthony Johnson) in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. On the other side of the brackets, Corey Anderson defeated Ryan Bader and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov to earn a matchup with the champion in Bellator 277's co-main event.
Fans, however, remained disappointed despite all of the effort and time. The promotion is now focused on Bellator 288 on November 18. In April, the 205-pound Grand Prix was unable to produce a victor. After an unintentional head-on collision after Round 3 left Vadim Nemkov with a significant gash on his head, and the match between him and Corey Anderson was declared void.
A technical judgment would have been made if the round had ended. Nemkov retains the championship, and the $1 million prize remains open to be won. At Chicago, Illinois' Wintrust Arena, the champions will square off once more.
“It’s very upsetting,” Anderson said told the assembled press after the bout. “Especially because I broke him, you know? You can’t say I wasn’t winning the fight and the clash happened. It is what it is. I went out there and did exactly what I was supposed to do like I said I was going to do. I said I was going to go out there and dominate. He can’t handle my wrestling, my ground-and-pound. I was pacing myself. And I knew, the fourth round, it was going to be over.”
Bellator 288 will feature a lightweight title fight between champion Patricky Pitbull and quickly emerging unbeaten #1 contender Usman Nurmagomedov in addition to the light heavyweight main event.
Usman is a fairly popular figure among MMA fans, and he is also related to former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who could be seen supporting the challenger in his corner for the title bout. Usman might compete with the favorite to win, not just because of his well-known last name but also because of his superb fighting skills.
The current Bellator 288: Nemkov vs Anderson 2 fight card looks like the following:
Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson – Nemkov’s Bellator light heavyweight title, light heavyweight Grand Prix final
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire vs. Usman Nurmagomedov – Freire’s Bellator MMA lightweight title
Daniel Weichel vs. Timur Khizriev
Tyrell Fortune vs. Daniel James
Roman Faraldo vs. Levan Chokheli
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