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Bellator MMA is back in a big way. The promotion returned with its debut card for 2021 on April 2 and saw two-division champion Patricio Pitbull defend his featherweight crown with a first-round submission of Emmanuel Sanchez. The win sets up a massive fight later this year against top contender AJ McKee in the World Featherweight Grand Prix final that also has $1 million up for grabs.
Plus, the promotion opened up its latest Grand Prix, this time in the light heavyweight division. The four men remaining head to the semifinals as champion Vadim Nemkov, Corey Anderson, Ryan Bader and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson all vie for the $1 million prize and the 205-pound title.
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Also early on in the year, a new champion was crowned at bantamweight when Sergio Pettis outpointed Juan Archuleta for the title. He joins brother Anthony in winning major promotional titles with three companies. And Cris Cyborg continued her destructive ways with a late stoppage of Leslie Smith to retain her featherweight crown. (Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS).
A new champion was crowned in the welterweight division to start off June as Yaroslav Amosov outpointed three-time titleholder Douglas Lima over a grueling 25 minutes. The undefeated native of Ukraine put together all the tools to become champion as he continues his dominant run. Now, we turn our attention to the heavyweights for the next event as Tim Johnson takes on Valentin Moldavsky for the interim crown. Full champion Ryan Bader is still involved with the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix and unable to defend his championship.
Be sure to check back in on this page to stay up to date on the upcoming Bellator events throughout the remainder of the year.
Upcoming Bellator MMA schedule
| Event | Date | Main event | Weight class | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellator 261 | June 25 | Tim Johnson vs. Valentin Moldavsky | Interim heavyweight title | Uncasville, Connecticut | Showtime |
| Bellator 262 | July 16 | Juliana Velasquez (c) vs. Denise Kieholtz | Women’s flyweight title | Uncasville, Connecticut | Showtime |