Although no main card matchup suddenly shifted weight classes the
night before weigh-ins, there was plenty of drama to go around at
the Bellator MMA weight ceremony on Friday morning.
Ten fights will now go down at the VTB Arena in Moscow on Saturday
at Bellator 269, with none more important than legendary
heavyweight Fedor
Emelianenko (39-6, 1 NC) as he says farewell to Russian crowds
and faces on Tim Johnson
(15-7). There were to be 12 come fight night, but the lightweight
matchup between Vladimir
Tokov and Aymard Guih
fell off on Friday morning in Russia when Guih was not medically
cleared. Although all of the main card competitors hit their marks,
two preliminary fighters came in heavy and one bout was scratched
as a result.
This will be the 45-year-old Emelianenko’s first appearance since
he knocked Quinton
Jackson out in December 2019. Dating back the last five years,
every one of the Russian’s fights has ended by first-round
knockout, win or lose. While he has been knocked out by Matt
Mitrione and Ryan Bader,
he has stopped Frank Mir,
Chael
Sonnen and the aforementioned Jackson on his Bellator run.
Never coming close to the heavyweight cap, Emelianenko weighed in
at 233.5 pounds.
Johnson fell short in his last outing for the interim heavyweight
strap, when Valentin
Moldavsky controlled him for the better part of five rounds.
The win put an end to a run that saw the North Dakota native knock
Tyrell
Fortune and Mitrione out, while taking a split decision over
Cheick
Kongo in their rematch. Walking in wearing blue jeans, a
baseball cap and a blue Bellator facial covering, the American will
have over 30 pounds on his opponent after weighing 264 ready
pounds.
Two fighters missed weight: Aiden Lee
(147.5)*, who came in 1.5 pounds heavy for his featherweight scrap
with Alexander
Osetrov. He has been fined a percentage of his purse, and the
fight will go on. Gadzhi
Rabadanov (148.8)** missed weight as well, and his
featherweight fight with Alexander
Belikh has been canceled. Additionally, the flyweight pairing
between Irina
Alekseeva (129.9) and Stephanie
Ielo Page (124.5) has been shifted to a 130-pound catchweight
affair after the weigh-ins concluded.
Inside the VTB Arena in Moscow, Bellator 269 takes place on
Saturday with its main card on Showtime in the U.S. and Okko in
Russia, beginning at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT/10 p.m. MSK. The
preliminary offering kicks off on the Bellator YouTube channel at
12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT/7:30 p.m. MSK.
Bellator 269 Weigh-in Results:
Fedor
Emelianenko (233.5) vs. Tim Johnson
(264)
Vitaly
Minakov (265) vs. Said Sowma
(243)
Usman
Nurmagomedov (160) vs. Patrik
Pietila (158.5)
Anatoly
Tokov (185) vs. Sharaf
Davlatmurodov (186)
Kirill
Sidelnikov (264) vs. Rab
Truesdale (247)
Darina
Mazdyuk (125) vs. Katarzyna
Sadura (125.5)
Irina
Alekseeva (129.9) vs. Stephanie
Ielo Page (124.5)
Brian
Moore (136) vs. Nikita
Mikhailov (135.5)
Grachik
Bozinyan (170) vs. Alexey
Shurkevich (171)
Aiden
Lee (147.5)* vs. Alexander
Osetrov (145.5)
Gadzhi
Rabadanov (148.8)** vs. Alexander
Belikh (146)
* Lee missed weight by 1.5 pounds and has been fined a
percentage of his purse.
** Rabadanov missed weight by 2.8 pounds and the fight has been
canceled.