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Check out these photos from Bellator 297 media day in Chicago, where fighters answered questions from the media in attendance.
Check out these photos from Bellator 297 media day in Chicago, where fighters answered questions from the media in attendance. (Photos by Matt Erickson–MMA Junkie)
At Bellator 297, Patricio Freire could become the first three-weight champion in major promotion history – and he’s already eying a fourth.
CHICAGO – [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] is days out from a potential feat no other fighter has ever accomplished, and the thoughts of topping it have already crept into his mind.
At Bellator 297 on Friday, Freire (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA) will challenge bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) in a co-main event super-fight at Wintrust Arena. He currently holds the featherweight title and previously held the lightweight strap.
What Freire lacked in height at featherweight he often made up for in bulk. A compact fighter, Freire looked lean at Tuesday’s pre-fight news conference as he repeated how easy the cut has been.
“I can’t believe how easy this process is going down a weight class has been,” Freire told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “… I’ve been dieting. I am only eight pounds over. It’s never been easier. It’s easier for me making this weight than it was for featherweight. I’m great. I’m ready. It was easier, easier than ever, easier than making featherweight. I’m ready to shock the world.”
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The cut has been so easy, in fact, that Freire hinted a fourth division’s belt could be pursued. Bellator recently announced a flyweight division and Freire has started to consider it a possibility.
“First, I have to get the victory. But I don’t know. We have Patchy Mix as an interim champion. Maybe, (I’ll) go for the fourth belt. I don’t know. Let’s see what is going to happen. I’m feeling great. I’m fresh. I’m feeling good.”
“… Before accepting that fight against Sergio, it was not in my mind. I am like seven kilos (above) the featherweight division and I know it’s hard to make weight. But now, I’m like six months on diet or more and I realized that it’s possible. So after this fight, if I win the fight and the belt is available to a challenger, I’m on it.
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For Freire, 35, the chase of records and feats is catalyzed by a desire to not get comfortable. While many other champions are content to just knock off challengers in a single weight class, Freire has actively ventured into unchartered territories.
His laundry list of accolades has made Freire a frequent pick among fans, reporters, and fighters as the best Bellator fighter of all time. Freire himself isn’t interested in partaking in the discussion, just crafting it through actions.
“I’ve never liked to talk about or think about who’s the best,” Freire said. “I think that’s for other people to do. I think my focus is just accomplishing the mission and let everybody else decide. Let them look at the numbers. Let them look at the facts and they can decide for themselves. But numbers don’t lie.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
Sergio Pettis believes his upcoming title fight against Patricio “Pitbull” is the biggest fight of his career.
CHICAGO – [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] feels he’s in a pivotal moment of his fighting career.
The Bellator bantamweight champion is just days away from defending his belt against arguably the greatest fighter the promotion has ever seen – former Bellator lightweight champion and current Bellator featherweight titleholder Patricio Freire. The bout goes down in the co-main event of Bellator 297, which takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena.
Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) believes this is the biggest fight so far of his career.
“Biggest fight of my career, for sure,” Pettis said at Tuesday’s Bellator 297 media day. “Especially after the situation coming off 18 months and getting thrown into the deep end with a killer like Patricio. Definitely a big task ahead of me and the biggest fight, for sure.”
Pettis hasn’t fought since defending his belt against Kyoji Horiguchi in December 2021 at Bellator 272. On the other hand, Freire (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA) has been active. Although logging in his first fight of 2023, “Pitbull” is coming off a successful 2022 where he picked up three straight wins.
Freire is attempting to get a title in a third weight class – something no one has done in a major MMA promotion. Pettis understands the magnitude of the situation, but won’t let Freire’s legacy talk get to him.
“I’m not really worried about this whole narrative of three-time champion or even just me coming back,” Pettis said. “I feel like I’ve gotten better, to be honest. I’ve gotten a lot better in this sport and as a person. I’m just really excited to do that. All that narrative at the end of the day is cool for social media and all that stuff, and all the media and whatever, but I’m going to go out there and do what I do. Get this job done and create my legacy.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
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Rising Bellator star Archie Colgan explains how training with Justin Gaethje has improved his career.
CHICAGO – For top Bellator prospect [autotag]Archie Colgan[/autotag], his relationship with UFC contender [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] extends beyond business.
Since his early days as a pro fighter, Colgan (7-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) has sparred and trained alongside Gaethje in Colorado. Although they are at much different points in their MMA journeys, the two have meshed and bettered one another through their physical abilities, but more prominently through their attitudes.
“I feel like just the camaraderie and the brotherhood between us is just like every practice is about the same,” Colgan told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a Bellator 297 pre-fight news conference Tuesday. “We push each other. When you spar with somebody who you care about but you want to compete against, that in itself just brings the best out of you.
“It’s sweet that we’re both training for a camp. I’m a little earlier than he is – well, a lot earlier than he is. But when you go in there and if I hit you one time, being that brotherhood, you want to get it back with safety obviously. We want to take care of each other. But there’s always competition. Our training sessions are always good.”
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Colgan, 27, will attempt to once again use what he and Gathje have drilled in the gym when he fights former Bellator title challenger Emmanuel Sanchez (20-8 MMA, 12-7 BMMA) at Bellator 297 on Friday.
The matchup, Colgan thinks, will be a good test for him to prove to himself and the promotion he’s ready to continue his progression toward contender status.
“I understand what the task is. I understand what he brings to the table. I’ve had eight, 10 weeks to think about it,” Colgan said. “To watch video and see who he is as a person and as a fighter, he’s a traditional Mexican-style, hard-nosed fighter. He’s going to fight until that whistle, the bell, the 10-second dinger, until that’s done, he’s going to fight. I understand what I’m getting myself into. I hope he does, too.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
Norbert Novenyi thinks he’s ready for top talent, but at 23 years old with only six fights, he knows experience is needed first.
CHICAGO – [autotag]Norbert Novenyi[/autotag] thinks the skills are there in all facets, but there are still untrainable intangibles that come with fighting for real.
At Bellator 297, Novenyi (6-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) competes for the second time in less than four months, though the pair of fights came after a nearly three-year layoff. There’s no substitute for actual competition, but so far Novenyi hasn’t noticed much of a difference from training.
“The fact that no one is wearing shin pads and there’s small gloves, it’s a lot scarier and you feel the shots a bit more, as well,” Novenyi told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Tuesday. “But I do this day in and day out. This is what I do. I’m very consistent with what I do. Because everything comes naturally, it doesn’t feel so different.”
Novenyi, 23, is considered by many as one of the brightest up-and-comers in the sport. Despite his youth and inexperience, Novenyi remains positive with a different mindset than others.
“I was doing my weight cut at the end of last week and I’m like, ‘How lucky am I to get to cause myself pain and suffering in order to achieve greatness and chase something that I love?’ That’s rare,” Novenyi said. “For me to be able to perform in front of thousands of people, I was like, ‘This is it. This was the past three years where I couldn’t walk and I was at the gym – all the nights I was crying and this and that. I’m finally performing again. It’s amazing. Even this. This is the same way. I’m just looking forward to being in there.
Friday at Winstar Arena, Novenyi will take on Kamil Oniszczuk (9-2 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) in a middleweight belt. Every fight is a new experience and Novenyi is excited to figure out the challenges Oniszczuk presents. It’s really about getting the reps in at this point, as Novenyi thinks his skills are already championship-caliber.
“I look at (Bellator middleweight champion) Johnny Eblen and all these guys and I truly believe that I technically, and it might sound very cocky, but I believe that my striking is better than these guys,” Novenyi said. “I believe my jiu-jitsu is better than these guys and I believe my wrestling is better than these guys. That’s what I started with wrestling, right? I believe my wrestling can match their wrestling as well.
“I just don’t have the experience yet. I’ve only had six fights and am only 23. I’m not rushing anything. I’m just going to do my thing, beat as many people up as they give me, and then, when it’s time to fight for the title, I’ll be there. I’ll be ready.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
Ireland’s Karl Moore is happy Bellator believes in him enough to take his show on the road.
CHICAGO – [autotag]Karl Moore[/autotag] is on an upswing and he’s enjoying every second of it.
Nearly 12 years a professional in MMA, Moore (11-2 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) finally has carved out his spot on the promotion ahead of his bout Friday at Bellator 297. The bout marks his first in the United States and Moore is happy to have proven to the promotion he’s a show worth taking on the road.
“I don’t know about every Irish guy, but for me, one of the best things about being in MMA, one of my main goals is to fight in a premiere organization, one of the biggest shows in the world, in a massive stadium,” Moore told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a news conference Tuesday. “I mean, I’m in Chicago. What is it, the second biggest city in America? In a class arena. It’s one of the MMA lifetime goals. For me, it’s like I’ve already won. I’m fighting in Chicago in the biggest organization in the world and I get paid to do it.”
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Moore, 31, takes on fellow Bellator-ranked light heavyweight Alex Polizzi (10-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) on the prelims at Wintrust Arena. With a victory, Moore will enter a four-fight winning streak. After years of battles on the regional scene trying to enter a big promotion, Moore recognizes that’s an accomplishment.
“The only change that I could’ve really pinpoint that’s made a massive difference is I’m never really taking time off,” Moore said. “I’m taking time off, but it’s not like in the past. I would have a fight and then maybe not train for a couple weeks. … I’ll always train. It’s not like I’m going through a training camp and going only 50 percent and have to bring it back up again. I’m always maintaining a high level and I’m just bumping up weeks before the fight. That’s the only thing that’s different? I’ve always been consistent. But these last, say, 12-14 months, I’ve really just put my head down and got to working.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
Check out all the facts and figures about Bellator 297, where Patricio Freire is on the cusp of an unprecedented MMA accomplishment.
The biggest Bellator event of the year so far goes down Friday with Bellator 297, which takes place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago with a main card that airs on Showtime following prelims streamed on MMA Junkie.
A championship doubleheader is featured on the top of a loaded card. In the main card, [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (15-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) will attempt to make his third light heavyweight title defense when he takes on [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA). The co-headliner, meanwhile, sees the return of bantamweight titleholder [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA), who attempts to defend against current featherweight and former lightweight champ [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-5 MMA, 22-5 BMMA) in a potentially historic affair.
For more on the numbers behind the two title fights, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about Bellator 297.
We want your predictions for Friday’s Bellator 297 event in Chicago.
We want your predictions for Friday’s Bellator 297 event in Chicago.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the Bellator 297 main card staff predictions we release Thursday ahead of the event. Bellator 297 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Make your picks for the fights below.
Watch this week’s “Spinning Back Clique” reacting to Amanda Nunes’ retirement, what’s at stake at Bellator 297 and much more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts. This week’s panel of Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and Farah Hannoun will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate:
Here’s what you need to know ahead of Bellator 297 in Chicago.
For the second year in a row, Bellator is returning to the “Windy City” and bringing a stacked card with it.
Here’s how to watch Bellator 297 in Chicago, with a complete lineup and look at the top fights.
