2021 in Bellator MMA

2021 in Bellator MMA was the thirteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 18 events in 2021.

2021 in Bellator MMA
Information
Promotion	Bellator MMA
First date aired	April 2, 2021 (2021-04-02)
Last date aired	December 3, 2021 (2021-12-03)
Events
Total events	18
Fights
Title fights	13
← 2020 2022 →

Background

The promotion went on a hiatus following Bellator 254 on December 10, 2020, which would be the final card to air on CBS Sports Network.^[1] Beginning in April, Bellator's U.S broadcasts moved to the premium Showtime network.^[2] Bellator 255, which took place on April 2, 2021, was the promotion's debut on Showtime, and the first MMA card to air on the network in over eight years; the last event being Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine on January 12, 2013.

Events list

Main article: List of Bellator events

Past events

#	Event	Date	Venue	City	Country	Atten.	Ref.
18	Bellator 272: Pettis vs. Horiguchi	December 3, 2021	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut	U.S.		[3]
17	Bellator 271: Cyborg vs. Kavanagh	November 12, 2021	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood	Hollywood, Florida			[4]
16	Bellator 270: Queally vs. Pitbull 2	November 5, 2021	3Arena	Dublin	Ireland		[5]
15	Bellator 269: Fedor vs. Johnson	October 23, 2021	VTB Arena	Moscow	Russia		[6]
14	Bellator 268: Nemkov vs. Anglickas	October 16, 2021	Footprint Center	Phoenix, Arizona	U.S.		[7]
13	Bellator 267: Lima vs. MVP 2	October 1, 2021	Wembley Arena	London	England		[8]
12	Bellator 266: Davis vs. Romero	September 18, 2021	SAP Center	San Jose, California	U.S.		[9]
11	Bellator 265: Kongo vs. Kharitonov	August 20, 2021	Sanford Pentagon	Sioux Falls, South Dakota			[10]
10	Bellator 264: Mousasi vs. Salter	August 13, 2021	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut			[11]
9	Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee	July 31, 2021	The Forum	Inglewood, California			[12]
8	Bellator 262: Velasquez vs. Kielholtz	July 16, 2021	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut			[13]
7	Bellator 261: Johnson vs. Moldavsky	June 25, 2021					[14]
6	Bellator 260: Lima vs. Amosov	June 11, 2021					[15]
5	Bellator 259: Cyborg vs. Smith 2	May 21, 2021				0	[16]
4	Bellator 258: Archuleta vs. Pettis	May 7, 2021					[17]
3	Bellator 257: Nemkov vs. Davis 2	Apr 16, 2021					[18]
2	Bellator 256: Bader vs. Machida 2	Apr 9, 2021					[19]
1	Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2	Apr 2, 2021					[20]

Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Tournament

Opening round

Quarterfinals

Semi-finals

Final

A. J. McKee

KO

Georgi Karakhanyan

1

A. J. McKee

SUB

Derek Campos

3

Derek Campos

UD

Daniel Straus

3

A. J. McKee

SUB

Darrion Caldwell

1

Darrion Caldwell

UD

Henry Corrales

3

Darrion Caldwell

SUB

Ádám Borics

1

Ádám Borics

TKO

Pat Curran

2

A. J. McKee

SUB

Patrício Pitbull (c)

1

Patrício Pitbull (c)

UD

Juan Archuleta

5

Patrício Pitbull (c)

KO

Pedro Carvalho

1

Pedro Carvalho

SUB

Sam Sicilia

2

Patrício Pitbull (c)

SUB

Emmanuel Sanchez

1

Emmanuel Sanchez

SUB

Tywan Claxton

2

Emmanuel Sanchez

UD

Daniel Weichel

5

Daniel Weichel

UD

Saul Rogers

3

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.^[21]
2. Original final match was held at Bellator 277 and ended in a No Contest;^[22] A rematch final took place November 18, 2022 at Bellator 288.^[23]

Title fights

Title fights in 2021
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Event	Notes
Featherweight	Patrício Pitbull (c)	def.	Emmanuel Sanchez	Technical Submission (guillotine choke)	1	3:35	Bellator 255	[a]
Light Heavyweight	Vadim Nemkov (c)	def.	Phil Davis	Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 48–47)	5	5:00	Bellator 257	[b]
Bantamweight	Sergio Pettis	def.	Juan Archuleta (c)	Decision (unanimous) (50–45, 49–46, 49–46)	5	5:00	Bellator 258	[c]
Women's Featherweight	Cris Cyborg (c)	def.	Leslie Smith	TKO (punches)	5	4:51	Bellator 259	[d]
Welterweight	Yaroslav Amosov	def.	Douglas Lima (c)	Decision (unanimous) (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)	5	5:00	Bellator 260	[e]
Heavyweight	Valentin Moldavsky	def.	Timothy Johnson	Decision (unanimous) (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)	5	5:00	Bellator 261	[f]
Women's Flyweight	Juliana Velasquez (c)	def.	Denise Kielholtz	Decision (split) (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)	5	5:00	Bellator 262	[g]
Featherweight	A. J. McKee	def.	Patrício Pitbull (c)	Technical Submission (guillotine choke)	1	1:57	Bellator 263	[h]
Middleweight	Gegard Mousasi (c)	def.	John Salter	TKO (punches)	3	2:07	Bellator 264	[i]
Light Heavyweight	Vadim Nemkov (c)	def.	Julius Anglickas	Submission (kimura)	4	4:25	Bellator 268	[j]
Lightweight	Patricky Pitbull	def.	Peter Queally	TKO (punches)	2	1:05	Bellator 270	[k]
Women's Featherweight	Cris Cyborg (c)	def.	Sinead Kavanagh	KO (punches)	1	1:32	Bellator 271	[l]
Bantamweight	Sergio Pettis (c)	def.	Kyoji Horiguchi	KO (spinning backfist)	4	3:24	Bellator 272	[m]

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

See also

• List of Bellator events
• List of current Bellator fighters