Saturday night saw Bellator MMA hold the semifinals of the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix in the two featured matches of Bellator 268. After both picking up victories, Corey Anderson and 205-pound champion Vadim Nemkov are set to meet in the finals with both the tournament and light heavyweight championships on the line.
Nemkov retained his belt after scoring a fourth-round submission of Julius Anglickas. The fight was an almost perfect effort from Nemkov, aside from one scary moment early when he was dropped by the challenger. With his win, Nemkov remains atop the Bellator MMA Fighter Rankings at light heavyweight while also moving up one spot to No. 2 in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Anderson took care of business in very quick fashion, dropping former light heavyweight and current heavyweight champion Ryan Bader and finishing him with punches on the ground in just 51 seconds. Anderson is now the top contender for the belt and sits as the No. 6 fighter in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Below are the top-10 pound-for-pound rankings for both the men and women. The full top-10 rankings for each division within the promotion can be found here. The rankings are voted on by 17 members of the media.
Editor’s note: CBS Sports insider Brian Campbell is a member of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (Oct. 19)
Men’s pound-for-pound
|
1. AJ McKee |
18-0 |
|
2. Vadim Nemkov |
15-2 |
|
3. Patricio Pitbull |
32-5 |
|
4. Gegard Mousasi |
48-7-2 |
|
5. Yaroslav Amosov |
26-0 |
|
6. Corey Anderson |
16-5 |
|
7. Sergio Pettis |
21-5 |
|
8. Ryan Bader |
28-7 |
|
9. Michael Page |
20-1 |
|
10. Valentin Moldavsky |
11-1 |
Women’s pound-for-pound
|
1. Cris Cyborg |
24-2 |
|
2. Juliana Velasquez |
12-0 |
|
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane |
11-1 |
|
4. Liz Carmouche |
16-7 |
|
5. Denise Kielholtz |
6-3 |
|
6. Arlene Blencowe |
14-8 |
|
7. Cat Zingano |
12-4 |
|
8. Kana Watanabe |
10-1-1 |
|
9. Leah McCourt |
6-1 |
|
10. Leslie Smith |
12-9-1 |
Other notable results
- Lightweight: Brent Primus managed to outwork former UFC champion Benson Henderson on the undercard, taking an unanimous decision victory. Primus moved into the rankings at No. 3 while Henderson dropped three spots to No. 6.
- Light heavyweight: Karl Albrektsson moves from No. 10 to No. 7 with a tough unanimous decision win over Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.
