Bellator debuts of Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero delayed

By Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

The Bellator debuts of Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero have been delayed until May as the promotion shuffled up its upcoming schedule.

Anthony Johnson, Yoel Romero, Bellator

Bellator’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix begins in April with eight of the world’s best 205lbers going at it for the chance to win $1 million and the belt. On April 9 at Bellator 256, the tournament begins when Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida have a rematch. The two previously met in the UFC back in 2012 with Machida winning the fight by knockout. Nine years later and they meet again under the Bellator banner. The co-main event for that card was supposed to feature Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradv, but that fight has now been pushed back to Bellator 257 on April 16. That means that the fight between Johnson and Romero, which was originally targeted for that date, has been rescheduled.

Thankfully, Bellator was able to rebook Johnson vs. Romero in fairly short order. The fighters will now meet at Bellator 258 on May 7 when they meet in the co-main event of the evening. The main event of that card features Juan Archuleta defending the Bellator bantamweight belt against No. 1 contender Sergio Pettis. Although Johnson vs. Romero is now a co-main event fight, it’s worth noting that all the fights in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix are set for five, five-minute rounds.

Bellator president Scott Coker first announced the changes to the Grand Prix schedule in a press release.

“I’m thrilled to begin the BELLATOR MMA Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix featuring the best 205-pound fighters in the world,” said BELLATOR MMA President Scott Coker. “Like everyone, we had a few hurdles with travel issues and had to move some things around, but I’m pleased that we were able to reschedule these bouts quickly. We now have three stacked events in a row featuring quarterfinal matchups on SHOWTIME, while also adding other incredible fights to each of these cards.”

How excited are you for the Bellator debuts of Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson?


Topics:

Anthony Johnson Bellator Yoel Romero