Tag: Yoel Romero

Twitter reacts to Vadim Nemkov’s lopsided title defense over Yoel Romero at Bellator 297

The MMA community recognized the skill of Vadim Nemkov after a dominant display of Yoel Romero in the Bellator 297h headliner

[autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] continued his unblemished run in Bellator on Friday when he registered a title defense against [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] in the Bellator 297 headliner.

Nemkov (16-2 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) earned a third defense of the light heavyweight strap with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Romero (15-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) in the main event at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Nemkov’s title defense over Romero at Bellator 297.

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Bellator 297 results: Vadim Nemkov dominates inactive Yoel Romero to defend title

Vadim Nemkov showed 46-year-old Yoel Romero had no place challenging for his title with a dominant effort in the Bellator 297 main event

CHICAGO – [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] showed 46-year-old [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] had no place challenging for his title with a dominant effort in the Bellator 297 main event.

Nemkov (16-2 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) delivered a five-round display of striking excellence against the former UFC title challenger Romero (15-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), who had almost nothing to offer over the course of five rounds at Wintrust Arena. In the end, the Russian champion was awarded a lopsided unanimous decision by scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 49-46.

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Nemkov started the fight strong, coming up with a high volume attacking consisting of punch and kick combinations. The pressure put Romero into a defensive shell, where he remained for essentially the entirety of the round as Nemkov racked up points.

The champion kept the pressure up into the second round. Nemkov kept Romero guessing with his striking attacks, and Romero barely threw anything back, as he was outstruck at a nearly 8-to-1 rate through 10 minutes.

Nemkov was fully in rhythm going into the third round, where Romero is known to be at his most dangerous. The beatdown only got more ferocious, though, as Nemkov unleashed beautiful punching and kicking attacks that forced Romero to the point of trying to play rope-a-dope to get back in it. However, Nemkov wasn’t having any of it.

As the fight hit the championship rounds, Nemkov was firmly in control of the action. He battered Romero for nearly the whole fourth round, but “The Soldier of God” did show a few signs in life in springing forward with his signature lunging attacks – including a clean Superman punch – but Nemkov absorbed it all without issue.

It was more of the same from Nemkov in the final round, as he picked Romero apart and avoided taking a desperation shot from the Cuban on the feet. Romero got a late takedown, but he couldn’t threat with a finish and Nemkov was able to coast to the final bell and keep his title reign in tact.

With the win, Nemkov continues his run of success under the Bellator banner, becomes the fourth fighter in company history to go undefeated in their first 10 fights with the promotion. A.J. McKee, Michael Page and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane were the others.

The up-to-the-minute Bellator 297 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297: Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero odds, picks and predictions

Analyzing Friday’s Bellator 297 odds and lines between Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero with MMA picks, tips and predictions.

In a light heavyweight championship bout in the main event, Vadim Nemkov and Yoel Romero meet Friday at Bellator 297 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Bellator 297: Nemkov vs. Romero odds, and make our expert picks and predictions.

The prelims are on live streaming on Bellator’s YouTube channel at 6 p.m. ET, with the main card on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET.

Nemkov looks to defend his strap against the former UFC fighter. He is coming off a majority-decision victory against Corey Anderson at Bellator 288 in November after a no contest against Anderson at Bellator 287 in their first meeting in April 2022.

Since topping Ryan Bader at Bellator 244 on Aug. 21, 2020, Nemkov has successfully defended his title 3 times with the no contest. The 2 other defenses were a 4th-round submission win over Julius Anglickas at Bellator 268 (Oct. 2021) and a unanimous-decision victory over Phil Davis at Bellator 257 (April 2016).

Romero makes his 4th Bellator appearance since losing in a UFC title bout against Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 in March 2020. The Cuban fighter’s Bellator debut was not great, as he lost by split-decision against Phil Davis. He has bounced back with a pair of 3rd-round KO/TKO wins over Alex Polizzi (May 2022) and Melvin Manhoef (Sept. 2022) to position himself for a title shot.

Bellator 297: Nemkov vs. Romero odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:56 a.m. ET.

  • Fight result (2-way line): Nemkov -500 (bet $500 to win $100) | Romero +365 (bet $100 to win $365)

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Bellator 297: Nemkov vs. Romero picks and predictions

Records: Nemkov (16-2-0) | Romero (15-6-0)

Fight result (2-way line or moneyline)

ROMERO (+365) is a giant underdog and a tremendous value. You can multiply your initial wager by more than 3 1/2 times playing the former UFC champ.

The 2-time Olympic wrestling champion from Cuba has a knockout of Luke Rockhold under his belt to win the light heavyweight strap at UFC 221. He narrowly lost by unanimous decision to Adesanya, one of the best to ever do it, in his UFC swan song.

While Romero didn’t start out great in Bellator, falling to Phil Davis by split-decision, he has bounced back with a pair of KO/TKO wins, showing off his signature punching power.

Romero can not only brawl toe-to-toe, but he is strong on the mat if he needs to go there. However, he’ll likely look to keep this one upright as much as possible as Nemkov also showed off his ground game abilities when he submitted Anglickas in one of his defense fights. The current champ is 3-0 via submission in 18 career pro bouts. Romero won’t want to go to the canvas, but instead will likely opt for a brawl instead.

Nemkov won’t go quietly into the night, but the time is now for Romero to ascend to the top of the division, and he is a solid value to do so.

Visit MMA Junkie for more fight news and analysis.

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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and us on Facebook.

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Alex Polizzi details road from gnarly double-broken jaw against Yoel Romero to Bellator 297 return

Yoel Romero packs a punch as Alex Polizzi found out when they fought each other in Bellator.

CHICAGO – Many MMA fighters don’t have it easy, but [autotag]Alex Polizzi[/autotag] had next-level misfortune when he stepped into the cage against [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] in 2022.

Polizzi (10-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) has not competed in 13 months, but Friday steps back in the cage at Bellator 297 against Karl Moore (11-2 MMA, 3-0 BMMA). The past year for Polizzi has been filled with adversity and change. He suffered a badly-broken jaw against Romero, but learned many lessons in recovery.

“I was laid off for a little bit with six months of no contact with a broken jaw,” Polizzi told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Thursday. “We really took a step back to the drawing board and worked a lot of pad work, mitt work. But also a little bit earlier when I was unable to really work out at all, I made sure to get what was going on in my head right.

“I saw a mental performance coach who was able to go through some techniques about how to not only get ready, get my mind right to get back into things, but tools going forward to work on the mental side of things, as well. I think that’s been really super important and something that I hadn’t really put a lot of time into before… something that before this injury, this broken jaw that I think wouldn’t have done before.”

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In addition to the injury and mental improvement, Polizzi added more seasoning to his game. He switched gyms and moved across the country from Wisconsin to Nevada. Polizzi now trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

“There was a life-changing event,” Polizzi said. “My wife finished school and we were looking at new places to go. We had a couple different ideas about cities to travel to. On the list was Las Vegas and she said, ‘Hey Alex, how was Las Vegas for MMA?’ We said, ‘Yeah, I could probably make that one work.’ We made the move to Vegas and of course, if you’re in Vegas there’s really just the one gym option. It’s Xtreme and that’s where you’re going to get good work in with everybody.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Yoel Romero says ‘no chance’ he’ll retire at Bellator 297, plans to fight into his 50s

At 46, Yoel Romero is confident he’s got plenty left in the tank beyond Bellator 297, enough to fight into his 50s.

Despite being one of the more senior fighters today, [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] doesn’t plan to retire any time soon.

At 46, most active MMA are retired or way past their primes. However, that’s not the case for Romero – far from it. The highly decorated Cuban wrestler is just hours away from one of the biggest fights of his career, a light heavyweight title bout against highly touted champion Vadim Nemkov.

The fight serves as the Bellator 297 main event Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

As often seen in sports, seasoned athletes take the opportunity of achieving something big to walk away while on top. That was recently displayed by Amanda Nunes after she retired as a two-division UFC champion this past Saturday at UFC 289.

Romero respects that path, but he assures fans will see more of him, even if he claims Bellator gold.

“No chance, no chance,” Romero told MMA Junkie in Spanish when asked about potentially walking away as champion. “No chance, no chance at all. That doesn’t even go through my mind. I’ve got five more years in this sport. That’s what I think of. I plan on fighting until I’m 52. That’s my focus.”

Romero has told MMA Junkie in the past that he’d like to walk away at 52 just like Bernard Hopkins did in boxing, and that plan still stands.

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This title fight for Romero (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) is, in many ways, a story of redemption. “The Soldier of God” might just be the fighter who got closest to being champion in the UFC without winning the belt.

Romero fought four times for UFC titles. Three times he lost in competitive, even controversial, decisions to Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya. The other, which was for the interim UFC middleweight belt, he actually won by knocking out Luke Rockhold, but he was ineligible to win the belt since he has missed weight by two pounds.

This fight with Nemkov (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) is very important to Romero, who still dreams of championship status.

“I think it would be something very satisfactory for my team, for me, being able to win a championship belt,” Romero said. “It always is satisfactory to be able to take a belt home, knowing that you worked hard. Also, knowing the persistence, the dedication to training was well worth it. It also lets you know that if the work that you did led to you winning, then that’s the path that you need to continue on. You need to stay on that path and keep working. That’s what it would mean.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297 breakdown: Yoel Romero dangerous, but Vadim Nemkov just too good

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the Bellator 297 main event between Vadim Nemkov and Yoel Romero.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the MMA’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Bellator 297 ceremonial faceoffs video: Title combatants keep it intense but respectful

Watch the 30 fighters competing at Bellator 297 come face-to-face with their opponents for the final time ahead of the fights.

CHICAGO – Bellator 297 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena and the fighters came face-to-face Thursday for the final time before they throw down in the cage.

Main event combatants [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) had a respectful faceoff. Nemkov seeks his fourth title defense while Romero challenges for a Bellator title for the first time.

A highly-anticipated co-main event super-fight produced an intense faceoff as bantamweight champion [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA) stared each other down.

The fight marks Pettis’ first in 14 months since a serious knee injury. For Freire, the bout is his first at bantamweight and an opportunity for him to capture Bellator gold in a third weight division.

The full Bellator 297 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime (9 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero – for light heavyweight title
  • Champ Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Freire – for bantamweight title
  • Corey Anderson vs. Phil Davis
  • Daniel James vs. Gokhan Saricam

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)

  • Wladmir Gouvea vs. Gabriel Sayeg
  • Kyle Crutchmer vs. Bobby Nash
  • Pieter Buist vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov
  • Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Jaleel Willis
  • Mike Hamel vs. Shamil Nikaev
  • Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Kamil Oniszczuk
  • Archie Colgan vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
  • Karl Moore vs. Alex Polizzi
  • Timur Khizriev vs. Richie Smullen
  • Jordan Newman vs. Matthew Perry
  • Edwin Chavez vs. Cody Law
  • David McKinney vs. Max Metzgar

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297 video: Yoel Romero’s weigh-ins nudity causes funny moment, but Vadim Nemkov fight set

Legendary event coordinator Burt Watson was caught off guard by how long Yoel Romero was naked during his weigh-in for Bellator 297.

CHICAGO – The Bellator 297 main event is set.

Light heavyweight champion [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) was first to hit the scale Friday, and he made weight at 203.8 pounds.

His opponent, [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), stripped down behind a tarp and hit 205 pounds on the nose. The nudity triggered a comedic moment between Romero and legendary fight operations coordinator Burt Watson.

Nemkov, 30, has not lost in 11 fights and seeks his fourth successful title defense. Romero, 46, challenges for his first Bellator title after back-to-back wins over Alex Polizzi and Melvin Manhoef.

Check out the Bellator 297 headliners’ weigh-ins in the video above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Bellator 297 weigh-in results: Patricio Freire lighter than necessary for bantamweight debut

Check out the results from the official Bellator 297 fighter weigh-ins in Chicago.

CHICAGO – MMA Junkie was on scene at Friday’s official Bellator 297 fighter weigh-ins, which 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.

Among those who weighed in were light heavyweight champion [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) and challenger [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), who meet in the main event. Both fighters made weight. Nemkov was first of all the fighters to take the scale and weighed 203.8. Minutes later, Romero weighed 205 with a towel, which created a comedic moment with Bellator fighter operations’ Burt Watson.

Bantamweight champ [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) and featherweight titleholder [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA), who is trying for Bellator history with a title in a third division, also took to the scales.

Much buzz was made about Freire’s move to bantamweight, but Friday he proved any doubters wrong when he came in lighter than needed – at 134.2 pounds. Pettis affirmed his reputation as a professional when he came in even lighter, at 134 pounds.

The weigh-ins were rapid-fire to start, as 29 athletes weighed in during the first 15 minutes of the one-hour window. Welterweight [autotag]Jaleel Willis[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) was the lone fighter outside of the initial burst, but he made 171 with the towel.

The full Bellator 297 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (Showtime (9 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Vadim Nemkov (203.8) vs. Yoel Romero (205) – for light heavyweight title
  • Champ Sergio Pettis (134) vs. Patricio Freire (134.2) – for bantamweight title
  • Corey Anderson (205) vs. Phil Davis (206)
  • Daniel James (265) vs. Gokhan Saricam (246)

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET)

  • Wladmir Gouvea (264) vs. Gabriel Sayeg (261)
  • Kyle Crutchmer (171) vs. Bobby Nash (171)
  • Pieter Buist (156) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (156)
  • Ramazan Kuramagomedov (170) vs. Jaleel Willis (171)
  • Mike Hamel (155) vs. Shamil Nikaev (156)
  • Norbert Novenyi Jr. (185) vs. Kamil Oniszczuk (186)
  • Archie Colgan (155) vs. Emmanuel Sanchez (155)
  • Karl Moore (205) vs. Alex Polizzi (204)
  • Timur Khizriev (145) vs. Richie Smullen (145)
  • Jordan Newman (186) vs. Matthew Perry (184)
  • Edwin Chavez (146) vs. Cody Law (145)

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.

Video: Whose legacy will be impacted most between the two Bellator 297 title fights?

We discuss how Yoel Romero, Vadim Nemkov, Sergio Pettis, and Patricio Freire could have their legacies impacted in a big way at Bellator 297.

Bellator has one of the biggest events in its history Friday in Chicago with two title fights at the top of the bill.

In the main event of Bellator 297, [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] puts his light heavyweight title on the line against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag]. In the co-feature, [autotag]Sergio Pettis[/autotag] returns from injury to defend his bantamweight title against featherweight champ [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag].

Nemkov is in the conversation for the best light heavyweight in the world, and if he’s victorious against the always-dangerous Romero, his argument will only strengthen. If Romero wins at 46, he will have an incredible achievement in the late stage of his career.

Freire is attempting to make history again, as he looks to claim a world title in a third division. Questions surround him about his weight cut for this one, but also, Pettis may have some rust to knock off after being out of action since December 2021.

Who has the most on the line here? History and legacies are at play, but which outcome has the biggest impact? Would it be Romero’s late title run? Would it be Freire daring to be great, and even going further for a fourth title at flyweight? Will a Pettis victory place him among the greats at 135 pounds?

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Dan Tom, and Brian “Goze” Garcia answer those questions with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode below.

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