With mixed martial arts becoming legalized in France in 2020, BELLATOR became the first promotion to hold a major MMA event with Bellator 248 in October of that year. The success of that historic card propelled BELLATOR to make a return to “The City of Lights” in 2022 in a big way with a main event featuring undisputed BELLATOR MMA Heavyweight Champion, Ryan Bader (29-7, 1 NC) defending his crown in enemy territory against hometown favorite and No. 2-ranked heavyweight Cheick Kongo (31-11-2, 1 NC).
In addition to the main and co-main event, a lightweight tilt pitting the last man to defeat media darling Paddy Pimblett, Søren Bak (15-1) against England’s Saul Rogers (15-4) is also official. Bak has only tasted defeat once in his 16 professional fights and held both the featherweight and lightweight titles in Cage Warriors before joining the BELLATOR roster. Fighting out of Denmark, “The True Viking” is riding a seven-fight win streak into battle against the SBG Manchester product, Rogers. Known as “The Hangman,” Rogers also has amassed 15 victories on his resume including wins over Artem Lobov, Ryan Hall and Georgi Karakhanyan.
The preliminary card is guaranteed to feature a showcase of French talent and has begun to take shape with the return of Yves Landu (16-9), who takes on Liverpool’s Gavin Hughes (10-2) in a lightweight affair. Preliminary card action will stream live on the BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel, Canal SHOWTIME Sports no YouTube e Pluto TV começando em 6:30 p.m. CEST/12:30 p.m. E.
Tickets for the fight are on sale now at accorarena.com e bellator.fr. Follow Bellator France on Instagram @BellatorFrance and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorFrance/
Lutando fora de Miami, Florida, Romero will be making his second BELLATOR appearance on May 6 em Paris. Após uma passagem de sete anos sob a direção do UFC, the American Top Team-product became one of the most sought-after free agents prior to signing with the Scott Coker-led promotion in 2020. Com 11 da sua 13 vitórias na carreira por nocaute, incluindo quatro da variedade da primeira rodada, “Soldier of God” possesses the type of knockout power that can force any opponent into submission. Três vezes campeão de luta livre da Copa do Mundo, pentacampeão Pan-Americano de Luta Livre Estilo Livre, e 2000 Olympics Freestling Wrestling Silver Medalist, o cubano Romero tem mostrado continuamente seus talentos de elite no mais alto nível de competição. O único troféu que falta para um legado quase perfeito é um título mundial BELLATOR.
Making his tenth appearance for BELLATOR MMA, Dutch superstar Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef has put together an impressive resume throughout his illustrious career in multiple combat sports disciplines that has seen him finish 29 da sua 32 MMA victims via knockout, Incluindo 26 in the first round and eight in the opening minute of action. A native of Amsterdam, Holanda, the ageless wonder and No. 10-ranked BELLATOR light heavyweight will now look to add to a trio of impressive knockouts that he’s collected since joining the promotion back in 2014.
BELLATOR PARIS: BADER VS. KONGO 2 CARD PRINCIPAL:
ALTURA DE COMEÇAR (NOS.) / RMC SPORT (FRANÇA) / BBC Three & BBC iPlayer (U.K.) / Virgin Media Two & Virgin Media Sport (IRLANDA)
Sexta-feira, Maio 6, 10 p.m. CEST/9 p.m. GMT/4 p.m. E / 13h. PT
Heavyweight World Title Main Event: #C-Ryan Bader (29-7, 1 NC) vs. #2-Cheick Kongo (31-11-2, 1 NC)
Light Heavyweight Co-Main Event: Yoel Romero (13-6) vs. #10-Melvin Manhoef (32-15-1, 2 NC)
Leve Bout: Søren Bak (15-1) vs. Saul Rogers (15-4)
Leve Bout: Yves Landu (16-9) vs. Gavin Hughes (10-2)
*Cartão sujeitas a alterações.
Por favor, visite www.Bellator.fr e Bellator.com para obter informações adicionais.
Cronograma atualizado de eventos BELLATOR
Sat., Fevereiro. 19 / / BELLATOR MMA 274: Gracie vs. Storley // Mohegan Sun Arena // Uncasville, Conn.
Livre. Fevereiro. 25 // BELLATOR MMA 275: Mousasi vs. Vanderford // 3Arena // Dublin, IRE
Sat. Março 12 // BELLATOR MMA 276: Borics vs. Burnell // The Family Arena // St. Louis
Livre. Maio 6 // BELLATOR PARIS: Bader vs. Kongo 2 // Accor Arena // Paris, FRA
Livre. Maio 13 // BELLATOR LONDON: Amosov vs. MVP // The SSE Arena, Wembley // Londres