5 great Bellator fights to look forward to in April

Bellator MMA has many exciting fights planned for the month of April. They have three events scheduled, with two of them taking place on back-to-back nights when the promotion returns to Hawaii.

As the light heavyweight Grand Prix concludes, the bantamweight division will take center stage with their Grand Prix. The promotion has done a great job in using the tournament to showcase their talent and hopefully grow their fanbase. They have stacked their April events with title fights and other meaningful matchups that'll surely bring clarity to each division.

It was recently announced that the first of two nights in Hawaii will be headlined by the women's flyweight championship bout. Undefeated champion Julianna Velasquez makes her second title defense when she takes on former UFC title challenger Liz Carmouche. This list will look at five great Bellator fights to look forward to in April.

#5. Bellator women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg vs. Arlene Blencowe 2

Cris Cyborg (left) and Arlene Blencowe (right) [Image courtesy: Bellator MMA]

Cris Cyborg has been a dominant champion since defeating Julia Budd in her Bellator debut in 2020. She has successfully defended her women's featherweight championship on three occasions and has even finished each of her opponents. Arlene Blencowe was one of those challengers that came up short.

Since the loss, Blencowe has shown improvements, which earned her a rematch and another opportunity to become the women's featherweight champion. She is currently the No.1-ranked women's featherweight and is coming off back-to-back wins.

For Cyborg, this is another opportunity to put her dominance on full display. She submitted 'Angerfist' with a rear-naked choke in their first encounter and will look to make her fourth title defense.

The bout came as somewhat of a surprise. The promotion had announced that Sinead Kavanagh would get another title shot against Cyborg. But those plans were nixed after Kavanagh sustained an injury during her bout with Leah McCourt.

#4. Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Patchy Mix - Bellator bantamweight Grand Prix

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Bellator 279 is expected to begin with a bang as Kyoji Horiguchi and Patchy Mix kick off the bantamweight Grand Prix. This is a unique situation for Horiguchi as he has an opportunity to become a two-promotion champion.

Mix will also have that same opportunity. If he manages to eliminate Horiguchi from the tournament, he could be viewed as the favorite going forward. In addition, he could also set himself up for a RIZIN bantamweight title shot in the future as he would have a win over the reigning champion. It'll be interesting to see how the RIZIN champion performs coming off the loss to Sergio Pettis.

Horiguchi was getting the better of Pettis prior to the spinning-backfist knockout, so he should still be viewed as the favorite. Mix is coming off an impressive submission win over James Gallagher in Ireland. Hence, he has proven that he can remain composed even in a hostile environment and not deviate from his gameplan.

#3. Raufeon Stots vs. Juan Archuleta - Bantamweight Grand Prix

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Bellator received unfortunate news as bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis was forced to withdraw from the Grand Prix due to an injury. He was originally scheduled to defend his title against his teammate Raufeon Stots. This would have been an interesting matchup because of their familiarity with one another and their recent performances.

The promotion has been unlucky with the Grand Prix as the champion and James Gallagher were both forced to withdraw. Pettis' withdrawal has resulted in Juan Archuleta stepping in to fight Stots for an interim bantamweight championship. Archuleta is a former champion, so it makes sense why he was chosen to replace Pettis in the interim title fight.

‘Supa’ is currently riding a 9-fight winning streak and is unbeaten in all five of his bouts in the promotion. He was impressive in his most recent win against Magomed Magomedov as he handed him his first career loss. ‘The Spaniard’, on the other hand, hasn’t fought since his title loss to Pettis and will be looking to regain gold.

#2. Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee vs. Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire 2

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Bellator is bringing a massive event to San Jose, California as A.J. McKee defends his featherweight championship title against Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire. Their first bout saw McKee earn a dominant submission win to become the new champion and win the featherweight Grand Prix.

The rematch will be intriguing, as the former champion ‘Pitbull’ now knows what to expect against ‘The Mercenary.’ He’s arguably the greatest fighter in the promotion’s history and looks to hand their best homegrown star his first career loss.

There are many questions that’ll be answered in the rematch. It has long been speculated that ‘The Mercenary’ will move up to lightweight. However, he put those plans on hold for the rematch with Freire. If ‘Pitbull’ regains the title, a trilogy could be likely. But if McKee retains it, they could possibly give him an immediate lightweight title shot.

#1. Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson - Bellator 277

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The Bellator light heavyweight championship bout between Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson is arguably the most anticipated bout in April. They will meet in the finals of the light heavyweight Grand Prix and have a lot riding on their bout. The winner receives $1 million in prize money as well as the light heavyweight championship.

‘Overtime’ is looking to capture gold for the first time in his career. The former TUF winner is unbeaten since joining the promotion. He advanced to the finals after an impressive 51-second TKO win over heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in the semifinals.

The reigning champion Nemkov could make a strong argument for being the best 205-pounder in the world with a win. There has always been debate on how the promotion’s fighters would fare against UFC fighters and he has answered that. He has two wins over Phil ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Davis and finished Ryan Bader to become champion.