CHICAGO – Bellator 297 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena and the fighters came face-to-face Thursday for the final time before they throw down in the cage.
Main event combatants Vadim Nemkov (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) and Yoel Romero (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) had a respectful faceoff. Nemkov seeks his fourth title defense while Romero challenges for a Bellator title for the first time.
A highly-anticipated co-main event super-fight produced an intense faceoff as bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) and Patricio Freire (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA) stared each other down.
The fight marks Pettis’ first in 14 months since a serious knee injury. For Freire, the bout is his first at bantamweight and an opportunity for him to capture Bellator gold in a third weight division.
The full Bellator 297 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime (9 p.m. ET)
- Champ Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero – for light heavyweight title
- Champ Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Freire – for bantamweight title
- Corey Anderson vs. Phil Davis
- Daniel James vs. Gokhan Saricam
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
- Wladmir Gouvea vs. Gabriel Sayeg
- Kyle Crutchmer vs. Bobby Nash
- Pieter Buist vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov
- Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Jaleel Willis
- Mike Hamel vs. Shamil Nikaev
- Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Kamil Oniszczuk
- Archie Colgan vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
- Karl Moore vs. Alex Polizzi
- Timur Khizriev vs. Richie Smullen
- Jordan Newman vs. Matthew Perry
- Edwin Chavez vs. Cody Law
- David McKinney vs. Max Metzgar
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
