Bellator MMA Brings Massive Title Fight to Phoenix
Calling all Arizona fight fans! Just months after the UFC brought a blockbuster mixed martial arts pay-per-view to Glendale’s Gila Rivera Arena, Bellator MMA is set to promote a similarly massive event at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
The event, titled Bellator 268, is slated to go down on the evening of Saturday, October 16.
In the Bellator 268 main event, the promotion’s reigning light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov will put his belt—and his eight-fight win-streak—on the line against former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, who is one of the most feared knockout artists in MMA history. The bout will serve as a quarterfinal of Bellator’s headline-grabbing Light Heavyweight Grand Prix.
As if that attraction alone wasn’t enough to put butts in seats, Bellator 268 will be co-headlined by a second Light Heavyweight Grand Prix showdown between Ryan Bader—the reigning Bellator heavyweight champion and former light heavyweight champion—and former UFC standout Corey Anderson. The Bader-Anderson winner will then challenge the Nemkov-Johnson winner for the tournament crown—and the light heavyweight title—down the road.
In other words, the stakes of these two showdowns couldn’t be higher.
While these are the only fights officially confirmed for Bellator 268 so far, expect many other matchups to be announced in the next couple of weeks, as the promotion looks to pull out all the stops for its return to Phoenix.
Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
