Editor’s note: The article has been updated at 6:15 p.m. on
Sept. 17 to reflect additional information of a catchweight
bout.
Bellator 266 is officially set after the weigh-ins took place
earlier today and there was some drama on the scale.
The main event will see Yoel
Romero‘s Bellator
MMA debut as he faces former champion Phil Davis.
Romero (13-5) exited the
Ultimate Fighting Championship on a three-fight losing streak,
although his losses came to Robert
Whittaker, Paulo Costa
and Israel
Adesanya. The 44-year-old nicknamed “Soldier of God” will look
to win his first bout since 2018 as he steps into the Bellator cage
for the first time. Romero hit the scales at 205.4 pounds, with no
issue reaching the light heavyweight limit as he competed at
middleweight from 2013 to 2020.
Welcoming Romero to the league is another former UFC standout in
Davis (22-6, 1 NC). “Mr. Wonderful” most recently came up short in
his title fight against Vadim
Nemkov, losing a five-round unanimous decision. Prior to that
setback, Davis defeated Liam
McGeary, Karl
Albrektsson and Lyoto
Machida to earn a crack at his old belt. The former Penn State
wrestling champion weighed 206 pounds for the bout.
While both headliners made weight, DeAnna
Bennett came in 3.2 pounds heavy for her bout against Alejandra
Lara. Additionally, a 160-pound matchup between Eddie
Abasolo and Art
Hernandez fell through when Hernandez came in well over the
scheduled cap at 168 pounds.
Bellator 266 will air live on Saturday on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7
p.m. PT. Prelims will stream on the promotion’s YouTube channel at
6:55 p.m. ET/3:55 p.m. PT.
Bellator 266 Weigh-in Results:
Phil
Davis (206) vs. Yoel Romero
(205.4)
Neiman
Gracie (170.6) vs. Mark
Lemminger (169.9)
DeAnna
Bennett (129.2)* vs. Alejandra
Lara (125.2)
Georgi
Karakhanyan (155.6) vs. Saul Rogers
(155.7)
Christian
Edwards (204.3) vs. Ben Parrish
(205.6)
Grant
Neal (204.1) vs. Alex
Polizzi (204.9)
Anthony
Adams (185.3) vs. Khalid
Murtazaliev (185.3)
Albert
Gonzales (175) vs. Abraham
Vaesau (175)
Socrates
Hernandez (135.9) vs. Robert
Seronio III (135.4)
Rhalan
Gracie (171) vs. Shane Keefe
(169.1)
Eddie
Abasolo (N/A)** vs. Art
Hernandez (168)***
Jonathan
Adams (125.4) vs. Edwin
De Los Santos (125.3)
Jesse
Delgado (129.5) vs. Joshua
Dillon (130)
* Bennett missed weight by 3.2 pounds and has been fined a
percentage of her purse.
** Abasolo did not weigh in.
*** Hernandez missed weight by seven pounds, and his fight has
been canceled.