The biggest card of the weekend — a weekend that also saw LFA, the PFL, and UFC in action — undeniably belonged to Bellator MMA.
Bellator 297 in Chicago, IL featured Patricio Pitbull seeking to make history, dropping down to bantamweight in search of a third world championship. Previously holding lightweight gold and still the man in charge at featherweight (after winning his title back from A.J. McKee), only Sergio Pettis stood between Pitbull and history.
Let’s just forget about what happened when Pitbull claimed lightweight gold and held up that division for two years.
Topping the Chicago card, meanwhile, was light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov, paired up with ageless wonder Yoel Romero. Well, not quite ageless, but at 46 Romero was showing no signs of slowing down, coming into the fight off two straight finishes.
That having been said, Saturday almost certainly would be Romero’s last shot at gold, after coming up short (either in close decisions, or at the scale) in multiple attempts in the UFC.
Our picks are in — here’s how we see the Bellator 297 main card playing out!
| Writer / Fight | James vs. Saricam | Anderson vs. Davis | Pettis vs. Pitbull | Nemkov vs. Romero |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val Dewar (59-33) |  |  |  |  |
| Jamie Theodosi (61-36) | | |  | |
| Alex Behunin (60-37) | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik (59-38) | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (51-46) | | | | |
| Dylan Rush (46-51) | | | | |
| Eddie Law (43-49) | |  | |  |
| Cade Morehouse (7-8) | | | | |
There was but one unanimous pick among the four Bellator 297 main card fights for our staff members. All writers responding see Chicago’s own Daniel “The American Predator” James getting the win over Gokhan Saricam. Beyond that, Corey Anderson and Vadim Nemkov were virtual landslides in their fights, with only one writer each picking Yoel Romero and Phil Davis.
Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Pitbull was the closest fight to call. That had us split right down the middle — too close to call.
