Bellator was set for the biggest event in its history with four title fights on the same show – until the heavyweight title bout was scrapped six days out. Still, three title fights is nothing to scoff at.
Here’s how to watch Bellator 300, with a complete lineup and look at the trio of championship bouts in San Diego.
Broadcast and streaming info
Bellator 300 takes place Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The main card, which features four title fights, airs on Showtime.
The prelims stream on MMA Junkie (in the U.S.) and Bellator’s YouTube channel at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Venue info
Pechanga Arena is a legendary venue that dates back to 1966. It seats as many as 16,000, depending on the event and configuration. It was known as the San Diego Sports Arena for the majority of its existence, but the current naming rights are owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, which owns the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, a regular Bellator location.
Although it was built primarily for sports, the venue is perhaps best known as a favorite tour stop in the 1960s and ’70s for artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Elvis Presley, the Grateful Dead and Bob Marley. In more recent years, the building has played host to Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Lana Del Rey.
Bellator has been to the venue once before, but it’s been nearly nine years. At Bellator 131 in November 2014, Tito Ortiz took a split decision from Stephan Bonnar in the main event. In the co-main event, interim lightweight champion Will Brooks knocked out Michael Chandler in the fourth round to win the vacant 155-pound title. The event was, at the time, the highest rated Bellator broadcast on Spike TV.
Lightweight title/grand prix semifinal: Usman Nurmagomedov
It took Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) only about 18 months to become a Bellator champion. He’s just 25, and already he’ll have his third straight former champ across from him Saturday when he meets former titleholder Brent Primus. Not only is Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title on the line, but the bout is a semifinal in the ongoing lightweight grand prix. The winner will move into the final, where $1 million will be on the line.
Lightweight title/grand prix semifinal: Brent Primus
There may have been a point at which Brent Primus (12-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) wondered if he’d ever get another crack at the Bellator lightweight title. He won it against Michael Chandler in 2017, but lost it back to him 18 months later. Just 3-2 after that, Primus got dropped into the 155-pound tournament as an alternate and upset Mansour Barnaoui in the opening round to set up his shot at Usman Nurmagomedov, who happens to be the current champ.
Women's featherweight title: Cris Cyborg
Following her longest layoff in a decade, champ Cris Cyborg (26-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) is set to return for the first time since Bellator 279 in April 2022. This time, she’s armed with a new contract after a test of the free agency market. Unbeaten since she came to Bellator in 2020 and beat Julia Budd to win the belt in her promotional debut, Cyborg is seeking her fifth straight title defense when she takes on former UFC bantamweight title challenger Cat Zingano.
Women's featherweight title: Cat Zingano
When Cat Zingano (14-4 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) lost her title shot against Ronda Rousey in 14 seconds in February 2015 at the height of Rousey’s success, it started a run of four losses in five fights. But things have been on a major upswing since she came to Bellator in 2020. For the first time since 2018, Zingano will have multiple fights in a calendar year, and this one likely is her biggest test yet. Zingano beat Leah McCourt in March to secure her shot at dominant champion Cris Cyborg, who is a massive favorite.
Women's flyweight title: Liz Carmouche
Liz Carmouche (19-7 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane have trained together for years in San Diego. Their dream always was to fight each other with a title on the line … if they had to. And now is their opportunity. Carmouche will put the women’s flyweight title up that Macfarlane used to have. Both have considered retirement in recent years, but first things first: Macfarlane will try to reclaim the belt from Carmouche, who has won six straight since coming to Bellator from the UFC in 2019. Five of those six wins have been finishes.
Women's flyweight title: Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (13-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) lost the women’s flyweight title to Juliana Velasquez in December 2020. Velasquez then lost it to Carmouche, and fell short in a rematch. After Macfarlane’s loss to Velasquez, she was upset for Justine Kish for the only two losses of her career. But she rebounded in 2022 with a win over Bruna Ellen, then a home city split call over Kana Watanabe in Honolulu earlier this year to set up the dream matchup with her good friend and training partner.
Full fight card
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Brent Primus – for lightweight title; lightweight grand prix semifinal
- Champ Cris Cyborg vs. Cat Zingano – for women’s featherweight title
- Champ Liz Carmouche vs. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane – for women’s flyweight title
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6:30 p.m. ET)
- Davion Franklin vs. Slim Trabelsi
- Henry Corrales vs. Kai Kamaka
- Leah McCourt vs. Sara McMann
- Jena Bishop vs. Ilara Joanne
- Alberto Garcia vs. Bobby Seronio III
- Romero Cotton vs. Grant Neal
- Sergio Cossio vs. Jesse Roberts
- Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Herman Terrado
- Maciej Rozanski vs. Doveltdzhan Yagshimuradov
- Chris Gonzalez vs. Dmytrii Hrytsenko
- Bryce Meredith vs. Miguel Peimbert
- Jackie Cataline vs. Lorrany Santos
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 300.
