CHICAGO – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Thursday’s official Bellator 288 weigh-ins, where all the fighters on the card hit their marks.
In the main event, light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov (15-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) takes on Corey Anderson (16-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) in a rematch. Their first fight ended in a no contest in April from an accidental head butt.
Nemkov weighed in at 203.8 pounds. Anderson was the last fighter to come to the scale in the official weigh-in window and was 204.2 a little more than 40 minutes into the session to make the rematch official.
In the co-feature, lightweight champ Patricky Freire (24-10 MMA, 15-8 BMMA) meets unbeaten challenger Usman Nurmagomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA). Freire came in a pound under at 154. Nurmagomedov was 0.2 pounds heavy on his first attempt, but removed his shorts and with the towel was 154.8.
The weigh-ins took place at the Bellator host hotel in Chicago. The nearby Wintrust Arena hosts Friday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
The full Bellator 288 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (Showtime (9 p.m. ET)
- Champ Vadim Nemkov (203.8) vs. Corey Anderson (204.2) – for light heavyweight title; light heavyweight tournament final
- Champ Patricky Freire (154) vs. Usman Nurmagomedov (154.8) – for lightweight title
- Timur Khizriev (146) vs. Daniel Weichel (145.2)
- Tyrell Fortune (257.2) vs. Daniel James (264.8)
- Levan Chokheli (170.6) vs. Roman Faraldo (170.8)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)
- Imamshafi Aliev (185.8) vs. Sean Fallon (185.6)
- Killys Mota (155.6) vs. Jairo Pacheco (155.6)
- Archie Colgan (154.8) vs. Jesse Hannam (155.8)
- Sullivan Cauley (205.6) vs. Jay Radick (205.6)
- Jordan Newman (185.6) vs. Jayden Taulker (185.6)
- Laird Anderson (145.6) vs. Rob Fenicle (146)
- Isaiah Hokit (145.4) vs. Matias Nader (144)
- Wladmir Gouvea (265.8) vs. Kory Moegenburg (246.2)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 288.