Bellator has booked the finale of their light heavyweight Grand Prix. The Orange County Observer was the first to report earlier today that the promotion had finalized the matchup between the champion Vadim Nemkov (15-2) and Corey Anderson (16-5).
The matchup will take place at Bellator 277 which will take place in San Jose on April 15th. Nemkov and Anderson’s title fight will be the co-main event and the rematch between AJ McKee and Patricio Pitbull will serve as the main event.
The champion will be looking for his third successful title defense at Bellator 277. Vadim Nemkov has been sensational since making his Bellator debut a few years back. He went on an incredible run that led him to a title fight with Ryan Bader.
In that title fight, he completely dominated. Nemkov stopped Bader in the second round to become the Bellator light heavyweight champion. That led into the Grand Prix where he’s defended his title twice successfully against Julius Anglickas and Phil Davis.
Anderson’s Crowning Bellator Moment?
Back in 2020, Corey Anderson was one win away from securing a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title. He lost to Jan Blachowicz and then had to deal with some health issues. Once he was clear, Anderson asked the UFC if he could pursue other opportunities.
The UFC granted their fourth ranked light heavyweight his wish and Anderson quickly signed with Bellator. Since joining Bellator, Anderson has looked unstoppable. He’s won all three of his fights by stoppage.
In the Grand Prix, he’s ran through Ryan Bader and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov. Despite being the challenger, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Corey Anderson as the betting favorite leading up to Bellator 277.
It’s clear that these are the two best light heavyweights in the promotion. For Bellator, this is their second straight Grand Prix where the finals turned out to be the two best guys. There were no big upsets in this tournament and now in April, we will see who the best man is.