Bellator 290 main card set for CBS debut; Lorenz Larkin and more added to prelims
Bellator MMA kicks off its 2023 schedule in a big way with its first fights ever to air on CBS.
Bellator 290 takes place Feb. 4 at The Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The main airs on CBS after prelims on MMA Junkie.
The three-fight main card features three fights already announced, including two title bouts. In the main event, Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (30-7 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) defends his title against all-time great Fedor Emelianenko (40-6 MMA, 4-2 BMMA). The bout is pegged as Emelianenko’s final.
The co-main event features middleweight champion Johnny Eblen (12-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) as he battles Emelianenko’s training partner Anatoly Tokov (31-2 MMA, 7-0 BMMA). A welterweight bout between all-time Bellator finishers Sabah Homasi (17-10 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) and Brennan Ward (16-6 MMA, 12-6 BMMA) will be the inaugural Bellator bout on CBS.
New preliminary card additions announced by the promotion Friday included a rematch between Mukhamed Berkhamov (14-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Lorenz Larkin (24-7 MMA, 6-2 BMMA), a heavyweight bout between Ali Isaev (9-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Steve Mowry (10-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA), and former bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell (15-6 MMA, 12-6 BMMA) vs. Nikita Mikhailov (9-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA)
The Isaev vs. Mowry bout was first reported by Severe MMA.
The full Bellator 290 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, CBS)
Champion Ryan Bader vs. Fedor Emelianenko – for heavyweight title
Champion Johnny Eblen vs. Anatoly Tokov – for middleweight title
Sabah Homasi vs. Brennan Ward
PRELIMINARY CARD (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, CBS)
Neiman Gracie vs. Michael Lombardo
Mukhamed Berkhamov vs. Lorenz Larkin
Henry Corrales vs. Akhmed Magomedov
Chris Gonzalez vs. Max Rohskopf
Karl Albrektsson vs. Grant Neal
Diana Avsaragova vs. Alejandra Lara
Darrion Caldwell vs. Nikita Mikhailov
Jaylon Bates vs. Jornel Lugo
Isaiah Hokit vs. Peter Ishiguro
Ethan Hughes vs. Yusuf Karakaya