UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator 272 marked the end of the promotion’s 2021 campaign, and company president Scott Coker is turning his attention toward the new year.
Currently, the promotion has not publicly announced any events for 2022. Following Friday’s event at Mohegan Sun, however, Coker revealed some of what Bellator has on the docket. From impending title fights to the next tournament, Coker voiced optimism and excitement for the direction the promotion is heading.
Scroll below to read quotes from the Bellator boss on a handful of topics, including the next title fight in various divisions.
Bantamweight grand prix
Bellator revealed its eight-man field for next year’s bantamweight grand prix. Here’s what Coker had to say about the tournament:
“You know, honestly this is the division we could probably do a 16-man tournament (in) easily. When you look at the top eight guys, they’re just all killers. We said, ‘Look, this has to be the division.’ This is probably one of the best divisions we have. I think in that crop, you probably have, to me, whoever wins this tournament is going to be the best bantamweight in the world. When it was time to pick a division, I circled back around to my guys and they said, ‘Look, this is what we should do,’ and we went with it.”
“… The time we did the fighters draw was when we had a 16-man tournament. If we decided to do a 16-man tournament again, we’d probably do the same thing. To me, we’re going to sit down. It’s not just going to be 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7. It’s going to be something myself, my matchmakers, and my fight team are going to sit down and pick the best matchups, style-wise, that we feel that we can put together, and that’s how the tournament will be chosen.”
“… Honestly, I think it’s going to start some time in March.”
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When is Bellator’s first 2022 event?
“I think we’ll probably have an announcement in another week or so. We’ll probably be coming back in January at some point.”
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What’s next at welterweight?
“We have a lot of great fights. I think that ‘MVP’ (Michael Page) vs. (Yaroslav) Amosov will happen in the first quarter or early second quarter.”
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Fedor Emelianenko
“We have Fedor’s fight coming up in the summer in Moscow. I’m really excited because, to me, honestly, he’s the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. I know some people have their opinions about him, but they just forgot what he did in the first half of his career. … We’re going to do something really big for him in Moscow, probably in July at some point. It will be the end of an era as far as Fedor. I’m excited about that. It’s going to be a great event.”
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Next move at light heavyweight
“I think if you look at the fights, we have to finish the light heavyweight tournament. That’s going to be a big fight between Corey Anderson and Vadim Nemkov.”
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What’s next at heavyweight?
“(Ryan) Bader vs. (Valentin) Moldavsky. I think that unification bout needs to happen.”