''Bellator 297: Nemkov vs. Romero'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event produced by

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

that took place on June 16, 2023, at the

Wintrust Arena Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side Community areas of Chicago, community area of Chicago t ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States.

Background

The event marked the promotion's fifth visit to Chicago and first since Bellator 288 in November 2022. A Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Vadim Nemkov and

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate ...

headlined the event. They were previously expected to meet at

Bellator 290 ''Bellator 290: Bader vs. Fedor 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on February 4, 2023, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, United States. The card aired live on CBS and Paramount Plus, the first ti ...

but Nemkov withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. For the co-main event, a Bellator Bantamweight Championship bout between current champion

Sergio Pettis Sergio Jerome Pettis (born August 18, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bellator MMA, where he is the former Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Pettis competed in the Ultimate Figh ...

and the current Bellator Featherweight Champion

Patrício Pitbull Patrício Andre de Sousa Freire (born July 7, 1987), known professionally as Patrício Pitbull, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Champi ...

(also former Bellator Lightweight Champion) took place. This was the third time in Bellator history that champions in different divisions fought for the same title, following

Bellator 206 Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

and Bellator 221 (the latter event in which Pitbull defeated

Michael Chandler Michael Chandler Jr. (born April 24, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Chandler previously competed for Bellator MMA from 2010 ...

to become the simultaneous featherweight and lightweight champion). If successful, Pitbull would have become the first man to become a three division champion in a major MMA organization, the first man to become champion in two divisions simultaneously twice, and that his win would have mark the fourth time overall where a fighter has won a title in different divisions (after Joe Warren at Bellator 128,

Ryan Bader Ryan Bader ( ; born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of RIZIN. He previously competed for Bellator MMA where he was the Bellator Heavyweight Champion, and still holds the record for th ...

at Bellator 214, and Pitbull at Bellator 221). Meanwhile, Pitbull also became the first challenger in a Bellator champion vs. champion bout to drop a division. A welterweight bout between Bobby Nash and Roman Faraldo was scheduled for this event. In the beginning of May, it was announced that Faraldo had pulled out of the bout and replaced by

Kyle Crutchmer Kyle Crutchmer (born May 5, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist, freestyle wrestling, freestyle wrestler and graduated Collegiate wrestling, collegiate wrestler, who competes in the Welterweight (MMA), welterweight division. H ...

. A middleweight bout between

Austin Vanderford Austin Vanderford (born March 21, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist, who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He previously fought in Bellator MMA, where he contended for the Be ...

and Imamshafi Aliev and a bantamweight bout between

Leandro Higo Leandro Higo (born January 19, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2006, he has also competed for Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting A ...

and Nikita Mikhailov were scheduled for this event. However, both bouts were scrapped for unknown reasons for the middleweight bout and illness for Mikhailov for the bantamweight one.

Results

References

{{2023 in mixed martial arts Bellator MMA events 2023 in mixed martial arts Events at Wintrust Arena June 2023 sports events in the United States 2023 in sports in Illinois Mixed martial arts in Illinois Sports competitions in Illinois 2023 in Chicago

Background

Results

See also

References