2022 in Bellator MMA

2022 in Bellator MMA was the fourteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.

2022 in Bellator MMA
Information
Promotion	Bellator MMA
First date	January 29, 2022 (2022-01-29)
Last date	December 31, 2022 (2022-12-31)
Events
Total events	18
Fights
Total fights	228
Title fights	15
← 2021 2023 →

Events list

Main article: List of Bellator events

#	Event	Date	Venue	City	Country	Ref.
18	Bellator MMA vs. Rizin	December 31, 2022	Saitama Super Arena	Saitama	Japan	[1]
17	Bellator 289: Stots vs. Sabatello	December 9, 2022	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut	U.S.	[2]
16	Bellator 288: Nemkov vs. Anderson 2	November 18, 2022	Wintrust Arena	Chicago, Illinois		[3]
15	Bellator 287: Piccolotti vs. Barnaoui	October 29, 2022	Allianz Cloud	Milan	Italy	[4]
14	Bellator 286: Pitbull vs. Borics	October 1, 2022	Long Beach Arena	Long Beach, California	U.S.	[5]
13	Bellator 285: Henderson vs. Queally	September 23, 2022	3Arena	Dublin	Ireland	[6]
12	Bellator 284: Gracie vs. Yamauchi	August 12, 2022	Sanford Pentagon	Sioux Falls, South Dakota	U.S.	[7]
11	Bellator 283: Lima vs. Jackson	July 22, 2022	Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel	Tacoma, Washington		[8]
10	Bellator 282: Mousasi vs. Eblen	June 24, 2022	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut		[9]
9	Bellator 281: MVP vs. Storley	May 13, 2022	SSE Arena	London	England	[10]
8	Bellator 280: Bader vs. Kongo	May 6, 2022	AccorHotels Arena	Paris	France	[11]
7	Bellator 279: Cyborg vs. Blencowe 2	April 23, 2022	Neal S. Blaisdell Arena	Honolulu, Hawaii	U.S.	[12]
6	Bellator 278: Velasquez vs. Carmouche	April 22, 2022
5	Bellator 277: McKee vs. Pitbull 2	April 15, 2022	SAP Center	San Jose, California		[13]
4	Bellator 276: Borics vs. Burnell	March 12, 2022	Family Arena	St. Louis, Missouri		[14]
3	Bellator 275: Mousasi vs. Vanderford	February 25, 2022	3Arena	Dublin	Ireland	[15]
2	Bellator 274: Gracie vs. Storley	February 19, 2022	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut	U.S.	[16]
1	Bellator 273: Bader vs. Moldavsky	January 29, 2022	Footprint Center	Phoenix, Arizona		[17]

Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Vadim Nemkov (c)	UD
	Phil Davis	5
					Vadim Nemkov (c)	SUB
					Julius Anglickas[a]	4
	Anthony Johnson	KO
	Jose Augusto	2
									Vadim Nemkov (c)	UD
									Corey Anderson	5[b]
	Corey Anderson	TKO
	Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov	3
					Corey Anderson	TKO
					Ryan Bader	1
	Ryan Bader	UD
	Lyoto Machida	5

1. Julius Anglickas replaced an injured Anthony Johnson.^[18]
2. Original final match was held at Bellator 277 and ended in a No Contest;^[19] A rematch final took place November 18, 2022 at Bellator 288.^[20]

Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament

The eight participants of the tournament were revealed on December 3, 2021. They include current champion Sergio Pettis, the former Rizin and Bellator champion Kyoji Horiguchi, another former Bellator champion in Juan Archuleta, who captured the vacant bantamweight title in 2020 against Patchy Mix, who will also be in the tournament. The final four fighters in the Grand Prix are all ranked in the top six by Bellator at 135 pounds: Magomed Magomedov, James Gallagher, Raufeon Stots and Leandro Higo.^[21][22][23] Pettis and Gallagher would eventually pull out due to injuries requiring surgery.^[24][25] Due to the pull outs, two wild card qualifier bouts between Josh Hill and Enrique Barzola, with the winner meeting Magomed Magomedov in the opening round, and the second qualifier between Jornel Lugo and Danny Sabatello, which will have the winner face Leandro Higo in the first round of the tournament.^[26] Due to Covid, Hill had to pull out of the bout and was replaced by Nikita Mikhailov.^[27][28]

Wild Cards

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Juan Archuleta

3

Raufeon Stots

KO

Raufeon Stots (ic)

SD

Danny Sabatello

5

Leandro Higo

5

Danny Sabatello

UD

Danny Sabatello

UD

Jornel Lugo

3

Raufeon Stots (ic)

1

Patchy Mix

KO

Magomed Magomedov

SUB

Enrique Barzola

4

Enrique Barzola

UD

Nikita Mikhailov

3

Magomed Magomedov

2

Patchy Mix

SUB

Patchy Mix

UD

Kyoji Horiguchi

5

Title fights

Title fights in 2022
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Event	Notes
Heavyweight	Ryan Bader (c)	def.	Valentin Moldavsky (ic)	Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00	Bellator 273	[a]
Middleweight	Gegard Mousasi (c)	def.	Austin Vanderford	TKO (punches)	1	1:25	Bellator 275	[b]
Light Heavyweight	Vadim Nemkov (c)	vs.	Corey Anderson	No Contest (accidental clash of heads)	3	4:55	Bellator 277	[c]
Featherweight	Patrício Pitbull	def.	A. J. McKee (c)	Decision (unanimous) (49–46, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00	Bellator 277	[d]
Women's Flyweight	Liz Carmouche	def.	Juliana Velasquez (c)	TKO (elbows)	4	4:47	Bellator 278	[e]
Bantamweight	Raufeon Stots	def.	Juan Archuleta	KO (head kick and elbows)	3	0:16	Bellator 279	[f]
Women's Featherweight	Cris Cyborg (c)	def.	Arlene Blencowe	Decision (unanimous) (49–45, 49–45, 49–45)	5	5:00	Bellator 279	[g]
Heavyweight	Ryan Bader (c)	def.	Cheick Kongo	Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45)	5	5:00	Bellator 280	[h]
Welterweight	Logan Storley	def.	Michael Page	Decision (split) (48–47, 47–48, 49–46)	5	5:00	Bellator 281	[i]
Middleweight	Johnny Eblen	def.	Gegard Mousasi (c)	Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–45, 50–45)	5	5:00	Bellator 282	[j]
Featherweight	Patrício Pitbull (c)	def.	Ádám Borics	Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 49–46, 50–45)	5	5:00	Bellator 286	[k]
Lightweight	Usman Nurmagomedov	def.	Patricky Pitbull (c)	Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 50–44, 50–44)	5	5:00	Bellator 288	[l]
Light Heavyweight	Vadim Nemkov (c)	def.	Corey Anderson	Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 49–46, 49–46)	5	5:00	Bellator 288	[m]
Women's Flyweight	Liz Carmouche (c)	def.	Juliana Velasquez	Submission (armbar)	2	4:24	Bellator 289	[n]
Bantamweight	Raufeon Stots (ic)	def.	Danny Sabatello	Decision (split) (45–50, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00	Bellator 289	[o]

1. For the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship.
2. For the Bellator Middleweight World Championship.
3. For the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship
4. For the Bellator Featherweight World Championship
5. For the Bellator Women's Flyweight World Championship.
6. For the interim Bellator Bantamweight World Championship
7. For the Bellator Women's Featherweight World Championship.
8. For the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship.
9. For the Bellator Welterweight World Championship
10. For the Bellator Middleweight World Championship
11. For the Bellator Featherweight World Championship
12. For the Bellator Lightweight World Championship
13. For the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship
14. For the Bellator Women's Flyweight World Championship
15. For the interim Bellator Bantamweight World Championship

See also

• List of Bellator events
• List of current Bellator fighters
• 2022 in UFC
• 2022 in ONE Championship
• 2022 in Absolute Championship Akhmat
• 2022 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki
• 2022 in Rizin Fighting Federation
• 2022 in AMC Fight Nights
• 2022 in Brave Combat Federation
• 2022 in Road FC
• 2022 Professional Fighters League season
• 2022 in Eagle Fighting Championship
• 2022 in Legacy Fighting Alliance
• 2022 in combat sports