Bellator’s return to Chicago, which takes place June 16, 2023 at the Wintrust Arena, continues to grow.
On Wednesday, promotion officials announced the addition of six new fights to the Bellator 297 card, including a couple of ranked fighters.
Foremost among the newly added match-ups is a middleweight contest featuring former title challenger Austin Vanderford (11-2), ranked #5 in the division, taking on undefeated Dagestani prospect Imamshafi Aliev (9-0).
Aliev will be entering the Bellator cage for the second time in the fight, and will be getting his toughest test yet against American Top Team’s Vanderford, a former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor who was denied a contract despite finishing on the show in 2018.
Also added to the docket on June 16, Leandro Higo (21-6), ranked #7 in the bantamweight division, looks to bounce back from a loss in the Bantamweight World Grand Prix against Danny Sabatello when he takes on Russian Nikita Mikhailov (9-2).
Higo joined Bellator in 2017, and faced Darrion Caldwell for the promotion’s 135lb title the following year.
Another middleweight fight freshly added to Bellator 297 sees Jordan Newman (5-0) take on Matthew Perry (5-3), while at lightweight Mike Hamel (10-5) takes on Shamil Nikaev (10-0). Featherweight prospect Cody Law (6-2) returns against newcomer Edwin Chavez (6-4), and rounding on the new additions, Wladmir Gouvea (1-0) takes on Kevin Childs (1-1) at heavyweight.
Bellator 297 is led by a pair of title fights, as light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov takes on Yoel Romero, and featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull, a former 155lb title holder, drops to bantamweight in search of a third championship against Sergio Pettis.
The following fights have been reported for Bellator 297 on June 16, 2023:
- Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero — for the Bellator MMA light heavyweight championship
- Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Pitbull — for the Bellator MMA bantamweight championship
- Corey Anderson vs. Phil Davis
- Daniel James vs. Gokhan Saricam
- Kyle Crutchmer vs. Bobby Nash
- Austin Vanderford vs. Imamshafi Aliev
- Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Pieter Buist
- Leandro Higo vs. Nikita Mikhailov
- Jaleel Willis vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov
- Alex Polizzi vs. Karl Moore
- Wladmir Gouvea vs. Kevin Childs
- Archie Colgan vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
- Mike Hamel vs. Shamil Nikaev
- Norbert Novenyi Jr. vs. Kamil Oniszczuk
- Timur Khizriev vs. Richie Smullen
- Jordan Newman vs. Matthew Perry
- Cody Law vs. Edwin Chavez
- Max Metzgar vs. David McKinney
