Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out a live video stream of the Bellator 273 ceremonial weigh-ins.
PHOENIX – Bellator 273 ceremonial fighter weigh-ins take place Friday, and you can catch a live video stream of the proceedings here on MMA Junkie at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).
The weigh-ins take place at Westin Phoenix Downtown. The nearby Footprint Center hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In addition to the video stream above, you can check out the early and official Bellator 273 weigh-in results from earlier in the day.
Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 273 main card with heavyweight champ Ryan Bader vs. interim champ Valentin Moldavsky.
| Bader vs. Moldavsky |
Henderson vs. Mamedov |
Corrales vs. Lee |
Homasi vs. Willis |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 6-5 |
 Moldavsky (65%) |
 Mamedov (80%) |
 Corrales (71%) |
 Willis (75%) |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 9-2  2021 Champion |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 7-4 |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 7-4 |
 Bader |
 Henderson |
 Lee |
 Homasi |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 7-4 |
Bader |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 6-5 2014 Champion |
Bader |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Matthew Wells @MrMWells 6-5 |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Homasi |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 6-5 |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Lee |
Willis |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 6-5 2018 Champion |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 6-5 |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Homasi |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 5-6 |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 5-6 2017 Champion |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 5-6 |
Moldavsky |
Mamedov |
Corrales |
Willis |
Bellator is back for the first time in 2022, and there’s a heavyweight title unification bout at the top of the lineup.
Bellator 273 takes place Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, heavyweight champion [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] (28-7 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) takes on interim champ [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA), in a title unification fight. Moldavsky is a sizable -260 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Bader is +195. Our 12 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are backing Moldavsky fairly heavily at a 9-3 clip.
In the co-feature, former UFC and WEC lightweight champ [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (28-11 MMA, 5-6 BMMA) will try to snap a three-fight slide against [autotag]Islam Mamedov[/autotag] (20-1-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Mamedov is a big -475 favorite, and he’s got a huge 11-1 lead in the picks.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Henry Corrales[/autotag] (19-6 MMA, 7-6 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Aiden Lee[/autotag] (10-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) in a featherweight fight. And though Lee is a -125 favorite in a close fight at the betting window, our staff members are going with Corrales with a big 10-2 margin.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) is a -230 favorite at welterweight against [autotag]Sabah Homasi[/autotag] (15-10 MMA, 4-4 BMMA). Willis, like Corrales, has a hefty 10-2 lead in the picks.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Moldavsky (65 percent), Mamedov (80 percent), Corrales (71 percent) and Willis (75 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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Check out the results from the official Bellator 273 fighter weigh-ins.
PHOENIX – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official Bellator 273 fighter weigh-ins, which kick off at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT).
The weigh-ins take place at the Bellator host hotel in in Phoenix. The nearby Footprint Center hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Among those weighing in are heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (28-7 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) and interim champ Valentin Moldavsky (11-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA), who fight in the main event. In the co-feature, former UFC and WEC lightweight champ Benson Henderson (28-11 MMA, 5-6 BMMA) takes on Islam Mamedov (20-1-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at lightweight.
The full Bellator 273 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)
“If Islam is the guy who if I beat him, I’m that much quicker, faster to a title shot then absolutely.”
PHOENIX – [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] says he asked Scott Coker for an opponent who would get him closest to a title shot.
Despite losing three in a row, former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Henderson (28-11 MMA, 5-6 BMMA) has not given up on his hopes to add another belt to his collection.
Henderson will be making a quick turnaround after losing to Brent Primus in October when he meets [autotag]Islam Mamedov[/autotag] (20-1-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in Saturday’s Bellator 273 co-main event. It’s a tough outing that he asked for.
“I asked them point blank, ‘Hey, what do I need to do?’ I know three losses in a row doesn’t look good,” Henderson told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during Wednesday’s Bellator 273 media day in Phoenix. “One’s at 170 (instead of lightweight) – it is what it is. But three losses in a row doesn’t look good. But what do I need to do? What’s the quickest way I can get back to a title shot? Of course I’m biased in my own opinion, but I feel I’m still the best lightweight in the world. How can I go back to there and prove it? How can I get a chance to prove that? And they threw out Islam’s name.”
Henderson will be taking on another strong grappler in Mamedov, who hasn’t lost since dropping his second professional bout. Henderson, a two-time Bellator title challenger, hopes his willingness to take on all comers will help facilitate his path to another shot at the lightweight belt.
“They said this guy is on a 19-fight win streak. He just beat the guy that beat you, Brent Primus, and no one else can fight him,” Henderson said. “They couldn’t get anybody. Everyone is saying no to Islam. So yeah, sign me up. I’m your huckleberry. If Islam is the guy who if I beat him, I’m that much quicker, faster to a title shot then absolutely. I’m all for it.”
Bellator 273 takes place Saturday at Footprint Center. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
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For Ryan Bader, there isn’t too much to gain from a Fedor Emelianenko rematch.
PHOENIX – For [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag], there isn’t too much to gain from a [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] rematch.
Bellator president Scott Coker revealed Emelianenko (40-6 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) hopes heavyweight champion Bader (28-7 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) will be his retirement fight if Bader gets past his teammate and interim titleholder Valentin Moldavsky (11-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) in their unification bout at Bellator 273 on Saturday.
“I get it,” Bader told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during Wednesday’s Bellator 273 media day. “I ended up knocking him out in 35 seconds, and I can see how he wouldn’t want to go out like that and want a rematch. I’m open to it, but I haven’t really thought about it too much.”
While Bader understands Emelianenko’s desire to walk away on top while avenging a loss, he just doesn’t see any perks of running things back for himself. Bader needed less than a minute to knock out Emelianenko to become dual-champ in the heavyweight grand prix final at Bellator 214 and knows he likely won’t top that performance.
“I want to focus on this fight – go out there, win this fight, and then see what the win side of that would look like for me, because right now looking at that is like a lose-lose situation,” Bader said. “I can’t beat him any better than I did. It is a big fight. Any Fedor fight is a big fight – especially his last retirement fight. But we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.”
Bellator 273 takes place Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
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It hasn’t been smooth sledding for Ryan Bader the past couple years.
It hasn’t been smooth sledding for [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] the past couple years.
Bader lost Bellator’s light heavyweight title in August 2021 when he was knocked out by Vadim Nemkov. It left the former two-division champion with just the heavyweight belt.
After a win over Lyoto Machida in the light heavyweight tournament in a quest to get the title back, Bader was knocked out in just 51 seconds by Corey Anderson this past October.
Out of the title picture for now at 205 pounds, Bader will put his heavyweight belt on the line for the first time since September 2019, when he kept the championship after an accidental eye poke left Cheick Kongo unable to continue.
At Bellator 273 at the end of the month, Bader (28-7 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) meets challenger [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) in Bader’s home city of Phoenix. Bellator president Scott Coker thinks the stakes are high for Bader, especially considering a loss will be his third in four fights – but will leave him without any titles after a long run with two.
“”I feel like Ryan is top-tier. He’s right up there,” Coker recently told MMA Junkie. “The issue for Ryan has been we’ve just been adding to our roster, and the roster is growing. This is the healthiest, best roster we’ve ever had in Bellator. We just keep signing other guys and developing other guys to come in and fight him. It’s been tough for Ryan.”
Coker said he expects the fight to play out as a clash of styles between the natural light heavyweight in Bader and Moldavsky, who typically weighs in around 235 pounds.
Coker thinks Bader being a lighter heavyweight in fights against Muhammad Lawal, Matt Mitrione and Fedor Emelianenko played to his advantage – but the speed edge was nullified at light heavyweight.
“Ryan at heavyweight, to me, has a speed advantage,” Coker said. “At light heavyweight, he didn’t have the speed advantage with the two fights that he lost. Let’s see what happens. But Moldavsky is no joke. This guy is big. He’s strong. He’s a heavy puncher and he’s going to try to come and instill his will on Ryan. It’s going to be speed vs. power, and that’s what I think is going to unfold here.
“If Ryan stays on his toes and keeps moving and takes him down and controls him, and basically outworks him – speed is going to be key here – I think he’ll do very well. And Moldavsky’s going to be looking to knock him out. He’s going to be fighting a different kind of fight. I think he’s slower than Ryan, but he’s a heavy puncher and if he connects, I think it’s going to be trouble. But that’s my prediction for the fight. I think it’s going to be speed vs. power. It’s going to be the bull vs. the matador.”
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A featherweight matchup between undefeated Lucas Brennan and promotional newcomer Benjamin Lugo is the latest addition to Bellator 273.
A featherweight matchup between undefeated prospect [autotag]Lucas Brennan[/autotag] and promotional newcomer [autotag]Benjamin Lugo[/autotag] is the latest addition to Bellator 273.
Promotion officials today announced the new booking. Sherdog first reported the matchup.
Featuring a heavyweight title unification match between reigning champ Ryan Bader and interim titleholder Valentin Moldavsky, Bellator 273 takes place Jan. 29 at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
The night’s main card airs live on Showtime following prelims that stream on MMA Junkie.
Brennan (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) is unbeaten in the first five bout of his professional career, which have all taken place under the Bellator banner. The 21-year-old “Skywalker” has secured finished in four of those contests, including three via submission.
Meanwhile, Lugo (5-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) returns from a 16-month layoff. He fought most recently in August 2020, suffering a majority decision loss to current UFC featherweight Natan Levy in a bout under the LFA banner.
With the addition to the card, the Bellator 273 lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET )
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)
This week on “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel looks ahead to UFC 270, discusses the ongoing Jake Paul vs. Dana White saga, and more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Mike Bohn discuss five topics with host John Morgan.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Dec. 20-26.
Ryan Bader will finally defend his Bellator heavyweight championship again for the first time in more than two years.
[autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] will finally defend his Bellator heavyweight championship again for the first time in more than two years.
On Monday, the promotion announced that Bader will put his title on the line against top contender and Fedor Emelianenko pupil [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] at Bellator 273 on Jan. 29 at Footprint Center in Phoenix. The event will air on Showtime following prelims streamed on YouTube.
Bader (28-7 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) hasn’t competed at heavyweight since Sept. 7, 2019 when he retained his title in a no contest with Cheick Kongo after an accidental eye poke ended the fight in the first round. Since then, Bader has focused on light heavyweight.
Upon Bellator resuming events after a hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bader lost his 205-pound title to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244 in August 2020. Rather than defend his heavyweight title following the loss, Bader instead opted to enter the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix where he defeated Lyoto Machida by unanimous decision before most recently losing to Corey Anderson by first-round TKO in the semifinals this past October.
Now Bader will turn his attention back to heavyweight and Moldavsky (11-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA). During a six-fight Bellator winning streak, Moldavsky has defeated the likes of Linton Vassell, Javy Ayala, Roy Nelson, and most recently Tim Johnson this past June. Five of Moldavsky’s six wins during his streak have been unanimous decisions.
In addition to the heavyweight title headliner, Bellator also announced a bantamweight bout between former champion [autotag]Darrion Caldwell[/autotag] and UFC veteran [autotag]Enrique Barzola[/autotag].
Caldwell (15-5 MMA, 12-5 BMMA) will look to snap a two-fight losing streak, which includes a first-round submission against featherweight champ A.J. McKee in the promotion’s grand prix in November 2020. Caldwell returned to bantamweight this past May at Bellator 259 where he lost a split decision in a rematch with Leandro Higo.
For Barzola (16-5-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), the fight will be his promotional debut following his exit from the UFC where he went 6-3-1 from November 2015 to March 2020. Barzola closed out his UFC tenure with a majority draw against Rani Yahya.
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