Bellator is set for the final event on its current schedule with a return to one of America’s greatest cities – Chicago – for the third time in a year.
Here’s how to watch Bellator 301, with a complete lineup and look at the two championship bouts and more in “The Windy City.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 301.
Broadcast and streaming info
Bellator 301 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
The prelims stream on MMA Junkie (in the U.S.) and Bellator’s YouTube channel at 5 p.m. ET.
Venue info
Wintrust Arena is a reasonably new venue that opened in 2017. It is adjacent to the always-booked McCormick Place convention center. But for sports, it’s the home of the DePaul Blue Demons men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. A year ago, it hosted its first Bellator event, Bellator 288. The promotion then came back in June for Bellator 297, and now Bellator 301 – which is rumored to be the company’s final event.
Lightweight grand prix semifinal: Freire vs. Shabliy
Former lightweight champion Patricky Freire (25-11 MMA, 16-9 BMMA) will look for his second straight win after he lost the title to Usman Nurmagomedov a year ago. It will have to come in the lightweight grand prix against Alexander Shabliy (23-3 MMA, 4-0 BMMA), who has won eight straight, including his first four under the Bellator banner.
Bantamweight grudge match: Sabatello vs. Stots
The heat in the rivalry between Danny Sabatello (14-3 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) and Raufeon Stots (19-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) was high enough that it was worth running the bantamweights back again. They first met a year ago in Chicago in the bantamweight grand prix, and Stots came away with a split decision to move on to the final, where he lost the interim title to Patchy Mix. Sabatello rebounded from his loss to Stots, but was submitted by Magomed Magomedov and now has a return to the win column on his mind against his biggest rival.
Bantamweight title unification: Pettis vs. Mix
Bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis (23-5 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) returned in June and stopped former featherweight and lightweight champ Patricio Freire, who was attempting to win a title in a third weight class. Prior to that, Pettis had been out with an injury and recovery, which is when Patchy Mix (18-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) won the interim title in the grand prix tournament final in April in Honolulu. Now Pettis and Mix will fight to unify the 135-pound belts.
Welterweight title main event: Amosov vs. Jackson
Welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov (27-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA), from Ukraine, returned from a lengthy layoff in February and outworked Logan Storley to defend his title for the first time since he won the belt in June 2021. Jackson (16-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) lost a fight four years ago, but has gone 6-0 since then with six decision wins against an increasingly strong level of competition that has included former UFC and WEC champ Benson Henderson, Neiman Gracie, Paul Daley and, most recently, former Bellator titleholder Douglas Lima.
Key prelims
With two title fights on the main card, it’d be easy to look past the prelims. That might be a mistake.
At heavyweight, Tyrell Fortune (13-3 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) has a stern test in Marcelo Golm (10-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA). Unbeaten Hawaiian prospect Sumiko Inaba (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) is back and takes on kickboxing standout Denise Kielholtz (7-5 MMA, 7-4 BMMA). Plus, Archie Colgan (8-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) puts his unbeaten record on the line against Pieter Buist (17-7 MMA, 0-1 BMMA), as does Keri Melendez (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) against Sabriye Sengul (3-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).
Full fight card
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
- Champ Yaroslav Amosov vs. Jason Jackson – for welterweight title
- Champ Sergio Pettis vs. interim champ Patchy Mix – bantamweight title unification bout
- Danny Sabatello vs. Raufeon Stots
- A.J. McKee vs. Sidney Outlaw
- Patricky Freire vs. Alexander Shabliy – lightweight grand prix semifinal
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 5 p.m. ET)
- Tyrell Fortune vs. Marcelo Golm
- Sumiko Inaba vs. Denise Kielholtz
- Justin Gonzales vs. Timur Khizriev
- Pieter Buist vs. Archie Colgan
- Keri Melendez vs. Sabriye Sengul
- Matheus Mattos vs. Richard Palencia
- Mike Hamel vs. Tim Wilde
- Islam Mamedov vs. Killys Mota
- Cody Law vs. Jefferson Pontes
- Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Randall Wallace
- Isao Kobayashi vs. Yves Landu
