Heavyweight Title to be Unified at Bellator 273
There can only one king and to kick off 2022 Bellator will find out who truly rules over the land of their giants.
Heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (28-7) will collide with interim champion Valentin Moldavsky (11-1) January 29th at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, in the main event of Bellator 273. The promotions first event of the new year.
Bader returns to heavyweight for the first time in over two years. At Bellator 207 Bader knocked out Fedor Emelianenko to win the heavyweight championship belt and Grand Prix title, becoming a two-division champion. At Bellator 226 Bader’s first title defense was cut short when he poked Cheick Kongo in the eye leading to a no contest. Bader returned to the light-heavyweight division at Bellator 244 losing the title by 2nd round TKO to Vadim Nemkov. Next came the Bellator light-heavyweight Grand Prix where Bader beat Lyoto Machida in the quarterfinals and looks to rebound from a first round knockout loss to Corey Anderson in the semifinals.
Moldavsky joined Bellator in 2017 coming off a 3-1 stint will Rizin FF. The Fedor protegee is on a six-fight win streak that includes decision win over Linton Vassell, Roy Nelson, & Timothy Johnson who he beat for the interim title at Bellator 261.
The card will also see in featherweight action former bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell against TUF Latino two winner Enrique Barzola.
About The Author
