Bellator
MMA‘s first event of 2022 is officially set after the
Bellator 273 weigh-ins took place.
All fighters but one made weight for the event, which is headlined
by a heavyweight unification match between champion Ryan Bader
and interim titleholder Valentin
Moldavsky. The lone fighter to miss weight is Fabricio
Franco (151.2), who came in 5.2 pounds over the featherweight
limit, and his bout against Weber
Almeida (145.2) was canceled as a result. The card also
features two former champions in Benson
Henderson (155.8), who goes up against Islam
Mamedov (155.6), and Darrion
Caldwell (135.8), who looks to correct a two-fight skid at the
expense of newcomer Enrique
Barzola (136).
This is the first heavyweight bout for Bader (28-7, 1 NC) since
2019 when “Darth” poked Cheick Kongo
in the eye to result in a no contest. Since then, Bader lost his
light heavyweight belt to Vadim
Nemkov, won a unanimous decision over a faded Lyoto
Machida and got finished in 51 seconds by Corey
Anderson. Bader weighed 232.2 pounds for his return to
heavyweight.
Meanwhile, Moldavsky (11-1) is on a six-fight win streak, and is
undefeated inside the promotion. The Russian representing FedorTeam
defeated Timothy
Johnson in his last bout to win the interim title. The
29-year-old has designs on unifying the strap to become the
undisputed heavyweight king, and he stepped on the scale weighing
234.4 pounds.
Bellator 273’s main card will air live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7
p.m. PT. Meanwhile, its preliminary card will stream live on
YouTube at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.
Bellator 273 Weigh-in Results:
Ryan
Bader (232.2) vs. Valentin
Moldavsky (234.4)
Benson
Henderson (155.8) vs. Islam
Mamedov (155.6)
Henry
Corrales (145.8) vs. Aiden Lee
(145.8)
Sabah
Homasi (170.8) vs. Jaleel
Willis (170.2)
Enrique
Barzola (136) vs. Darrion
Caldwell (135.8)
Saad
Awad (156) vs. Chris
Gonzalez (155.6)
Duane
Johnson (185.6) vs. Dalton
Rosta (184.6)
Nikita
Mikhailov (135.6) vs. Blaine
Shutt (134)
Lucas
Brennan (145.4) vs. Ben Lugo
(146)
Weber
Almeida (145.2) vs. Fabricio
Franco (151.2)*
Sullivan
Cauley (205.8) vs. Ben Parrish
(205.2)
* Franco missed weight by 5.2 pounds and the fight has been
canceled.