Bellator Releases Bellator 244 Lineup Headlined by Ryan Bader vs. Vadim Nemkov

Bellator
MMA is coming back strong with its event towards the end of
August.

Via press release, the promotion released its card lineup for

Bellator 244 on Friday, which will take place on Aug. 21 at the
Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The event will be headlined
by the long-awaited return to light heavyweight for two-division
champ Ryan Bader
(27-5, 1 NC) as he comes to blows with Vadim
Nemkov (11-2). Drawing the co-headlining assignment is former
featherweight queen Julia Budd
(13-3) against the surging Jessy Miele
(9-3). The lineup has not been completed, but Bellator announced or
confirmed nine fights in total.

Bader will be taking a trip back down to 205 pounds for the first
time since November 2017, when he defended his light heavyweight
crown against Linton
Vassell at Bellator 186. Following that defense, Bader entered
the heavyweight tournament, winning it all with knockouts of
Muhammad Lawal and Fedor
Emelianenko, along with a decision against Matt
Mitrione. The first defense of his heavyweight title was to
come against Cheick
Kongo, but an eye poke forced an end to the fight in a no
contest. “Darth Bader” was originally booked against Nemkov in May,
but Bellator cards were all postponed due to the coronavirus
pandemic.

The streaking Nemkov has yet to taste defeat in the Bellator cage,
winning four including three by stoppage. Each of those wins came
over former Bellator or
Professional Fighters League champs, taking out Philipe
Lins, Liam
McGeary, Phil Davis
and Rafael
Carvalho in succession to earn a crack at the 205-pound throne.
Nemkov’s lone two defeats came in
Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan, and the Russian has rattled
off six wins since hist most recent setback.

Rounding out the main card for the time being is a heavyweight
rumble between Roy Nelson
(23-18) and Valentin
Moldavsky (9-1). On the preliminary portion of the event,
John
Salter (17-4) takes on Andrew
Kapel (15-6) at middleweight, while Adam
Piccolotti (12-3) squares off with Sidney
Outlaw (14-4) in the lightweight division. Opening the prelims
is co-headliner Budd’s stepson Lance
Gibson Jr. (3-0), who faces the far more experienced Shane
Kruchten (12-5) at lightweight.

Bellator 244 Card Lineup:

Ryan
Bader vs. Vadim
Nemkov – light heavyweight championship
Julia
Budd vs. Jessy Miele
– featherweight
Roy
Nelson vs. Valentin
Moldavsky – heavyweight
John
Salter vs. Andrew
Kapel – middleweight
Adam
Piccolotti vs. Sidney
Outlaw – lightweight
Erik
Perez vs. Josh Hill –
bantamweight
Lucas
Brennan vs. Will Smith –
featherweight
Vladimir
Tokov vs. Christopher
Gonzalez – lightweight
Lance
Gibson Jr. vs. Shane
Kruchten – lightweight

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com

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