Current Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov Favourite To Win

Published on February 23rd, 2021 2:47 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


In early April, Bellator's Light Heavyweight tournament will get underway, with a number of familiar names taking part.

This tournament is meant to excite fight fans as the promotion moves to Showtime.

You can make the argument that Bellator's Light Heavyweight division is deeper than the UFC's, especially with Jon Jones moving up to Heavyweight to take on the winner of Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou.

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The favourite to win the 8-man tournament is Vadim Nemkov, who defeated former champion Ryan Bader to take home the strap. Nemkov is arguably the best Light Heavyweight in the world right now with "Bones" moving up to Heavyweight in the UFC.

The fighter with the next best odds to win is Yoel Romero, who surprised many when he left the UFC earlier this year and signed with Bellator.

Here is the full list of betting odds for this tournament, which will reach its conclusion in October. These odds are courtesy of a major offshore sportsbook:

Vadim Nemkov, +190
Yoel Romero, +400
Ryan Bader, +550
Anthony Johnson, +700
Corey Anderson, +1000
Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, +1000
Phil Davis, +1400
Lyoto Machida, +3300

As you can see, there are some familiar names in this list, as well as some former champions and #1 contenders.

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Here are the first round match-ups:

Ryan Bader vs Lyoto Machida
Corey Anderson vs Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
Vadim Nemkov vs Phil Davis
Anthony Johnson vs Yoel Romero