Bellator’s upcoming slate of events in April and May has undergone numerous changes, with new fights being announced and others being shifted around the schedule.
All of the fights are set to take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA.
Light Heavyweight Bout Booted Ahead A Week
The promotion’s April 9th card has lost a light heavyweight bout between Corey Anderson and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, with that fight now being moved ahead a week to April 16th. The fight is part of the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix, which will be kicking off over the course of the month.
Bellator’s April 9th card also got a new bout confirmed for the prelims with the report, as the promotion announced a bout between John Douma and Will Smith.
Romero vs. Johnson Moved To May, Three New Bouts Join Bellator 257
The light heavyweight grand prix bout on April 16th between Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero is now expected to happen on May 7th at Bellator 258, per the announcement.
Bellator 257 has also received three new prelim bouts in the announcement.
Returning after winning his Bellator debut in 2019, undefeated lightweight Lance Gibson Jr. will fight Marcus Surin. Surin will be competing under Bellator for the fifth time, looking for his third victory in the promotion.
Attempting to bounce back from losing his Bellator debut to Austin Vanderford in 2019, Grachik Bozinyan will fight Demarques Jackson at Bellator 257. Bozinyan is riding the momentum of a recent win over Adrian Hadribeaj on an LFA card.
Both coming back after taking their first Bellator loss, John de Jesus and Alfred Khashakyan will fight in April. De Jesus was stopped in his last fight by Aaron Pico. Before then, de Jesus picked up a scorecard win over Vladyslav Parubchenko.
Khashakyan lost his Bellator debut last year to former UFC fighter Sergio Pettis.
Omer vs. Logan To Happen In May
The recent announcement confirmed one new prelim fight for Bellator 258, which is expected to happen on May 7th.
Alan Omer will wager his six-fight win streak on the prelims when fighting Bryce Logan. Omer won his Bellator debut last year, stopping Ryan Scope within a round with strikes. Logan lost in his last Bellator appearance, dropping a split decision to Georgi Karakhanyan.
Updated Lineups
Here are how the lineups for Bellator 256, 257 and 258 look. The promotion is hosting one event before this trio, holding Bellator 255 on April 2nd.
Bellator 256: Bader vs. Machida 2 – 4/9/21
Bout 12: Ryan Bader (27-6) vs. Lyoto Machida (26-10) (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals)
Bout 11: Jeremy Kennedy (16-2) vs. Adam Borics (16-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 10: Diana Avsaragova (2-0) vs. Tara Graff (1-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 9: Nainoa Dung (3-2) vs. Izzy William (4-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Cass Bell (5-1) vs. Jornel Lugo (5-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 7: Jaylon Bates (1-0) vs. Jeffrey Glossner (2-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Dalton Rosta (4-0) vs. Tony Johnson (9-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 5: Talita Nogueira (7-2) vs. Jessica Borga (3-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Cat Zingano (11-4) vs. Olivia Parker (4-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Cody Law (2-0) vs. Nathan Ghareeb (2-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 2: Liz Carmouche (14-7) vs. Vanessa Porto (22-8) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: John Douma (4-2) vs. Will Smith (3-2) (Bantamweight)
Bellator 257: Nemkov vs. Davis 2
Bout 10: Vadim Nemkov (13-2) vs. Phil Davis (22-5) (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 9: Corey Anderson (14-5) vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (18-5-1 (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals)
Bout 8: Aaron Pico (7-3) vs. Aiden Lee (9-4) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: Paul Daley (42-17-2) vs. Sabah Homasi (15-8) (Welterweight)
Bout 6: Veta Arteaga (5-4) vs. Desiree Yanez (5-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Pedro Carvalho (11-4) vs. Daniel Weichel (40-12) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Lance Gibson Jr. (3-0) vs. Marcus Surin (6-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 3: Grachik Bozinyan (10-4) vs. Demarques Jackson (11-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: John de Jesus (13-9) vs. Alfred Khashakyan (11-5) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Julia Budd (14-3) vs. Dayana Silva (9-5) (Featherweight)
Bellator 258: Archuleta vs. Pettis
Bout 8: Juan Archuleta (25-2) vs. Sergio Pettis (20-5) (Bellator Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 7: Anthony Johnson (22-6) vs. Yoel Romero (13-5) (Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 6: Patchy Mix (13-1) vs. James Gallagher (11-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Raufeon Stots (15-1) vs. Josh Hill (20-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Henry Corrales (18-5) vs. Keith Lee (7-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Johnny Eblen (7-0) vs. Daniel Madrid (18-6) (Middleweight)
Bout 2: Weber Almeida (4-0) vs. Johnny Soto (3-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Alan Omer (24-5) vs. Bryce Logan (12-5) (Lightweight)
CORRECTION 4/6/21: The date of the fight between Julia Budd and Dayana Silva has been corrected from April 9th to April 16th.
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