5 things for fans to keep an eye on at Bellator 272

#4. Bellator touring plans for 2022

Even with a global pandemic, Bellator has held a few international events. It’s been a difficult time for many MMA promotions as they navigate around travel restrictions to put on fights. Bellator has hosted the majority of their events at the Mohegan Sun Arena since resuming their event schedule. They also had their first event in Paris, France, last year, which was a milestone for the promotion.

Since July, Bellator has begun hosting their events in other markets again, which has allowed it to return to a sense of normalcy. Bellator returned to The Forum in Inglewood, California for the finals of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix. In addition, the promotion has held domestic events in San Jose, California, Phoenix, Arizona, Hollywood, Florida and South Dakota, Bellator have also returned overseas with big events in London, England, Dublin, Ireland, and Moscow, Russia.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Bellator announces plans for any more international dates in 2022. If Michael ‘Venom’ Page receives the next title shot against Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov, perhaps that’s a bout they have planned for London, England.

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#3. Bellator title fights planned for early 2022

With Bellator 272 wrapping up the promotion’s 2021 event schedule, they’ll most likely announce title fights they have planned for the first quarter of 2022. Based on the timing of when the title defenses took place, Bellator could be making a lot of title fights official for early 2022. Whatever current featherweight champion A.J. McKee does will be interesting and generate buzz in the MMA community.

The Bellator heavyweight championship bout between champion Ryan Bader and interim-champion Valentin Moldavsky could also be possible for early 2022. The bout will generate plenty of interest because of Bader’s history against Moldavsky’s teammates.

Bader won the Bellator heavyweight championship by defeating Fedor Emelianenko in the finals of the heavyweight Grand Prix. Team Fedor got revenge as Nemkov defeated Bader for the Bellator light heavyweight championship. Now, Bader sees himself going up against Team Fedor once again when he defends the heavyweight title against Moldavsky.

Another title fight that would make sense to announce on Bellator’s final event of 2021 is the Bellator light heavyweight championship bout. Current champion Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson are expected to meet in the finals of the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix. The bout could be a massive headliner in early 2022 as one of the promotion’s top divisions determines the best 205-pounder.