CHICAGO – Bellator’s headlining champs and challengers had their first faceoffs of fight week Wednesday 1,350 feet in the air … absent one key player, though.
Light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov (16-2 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) puts his title on the line against Yoel Romero (15-6 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) in the Bellator 297 main event.
In the co-feature, Patricio Freire (35-5 MMA, 23-5 BMMA) chases history when he tries to add the bantamweight title to his current featherweight belt. He challenges 135-pound champ Sergio Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) in the co-feature, and a win will make him the first fighter in Bellator history to have titles in three different divisions.
Wednesday, the fighters took questions from the media at a press conference at the Skydeck at Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), Chicago’s tallest building. At 1,451 feet, the Willis Tower is the 23rd tallest building in the world, third tallest in the U.S. and has the tallest public viewing area of any building in the country.
But Romero elected to stay at the host hotel in downtown Chicago rather than go to the 99th floor of the building. Romero, he said, is afraid of heights. He joined the press conference through a video feed in his hotel room. That meant no faceoff for the main event, but there were three others.
Check out the highlights from the co-main event faceoff in the video above, as well as the faceoff between Corey Anderson (17-6 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) and former light heavyweight champion Phil Davis (24-6 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) and an appearance from Chicago’s own Daniel James (15-6-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), a heavyweight contender who opens the main card against Gokhan Saricam (8-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA).
Bellator 297 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 297.
