Storylines to watch at this week's UFC, Bellator events
MMA fans are in for an action-packed week.
The UFC is set to host a Fight Night card Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with welterweight contenders Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad squaring off in a rematch in the main event.
Bellator, meanwhile, returns to San Jose's SAP Center on Friday with a loaded Bellator 277 event. AJ McKee will defend the featherweight title in a rematch against Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, and Vadim Nemkov will defend his belt against Corey Anderson in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix final.
Here are three key storylines ahead of the two events.
Return of the old guard?
Freire has a chance to prove that the apparent changing of the guard fans witnessed when McKee beat him last summer was a minor setback - not a permanent overhaul of the featherweight landscape.
Freire had been atop the 145-pound division for so long that it felt bizarre when that suddenly changed. He's been one of the faces of Bellator for years, having held the featherweight title twice and the lightweight title once. He's one of two simultaneous two-division champions in Bellator history.
McKee, meanwhile, is a homegrown talent who had long been billed as a future champion. When that finally came to fruition at the conclusion of the Featherweight Grand Prix last July, it felt like the division had entered a new era and that McKee - as champ - was there to stay.
Freire is a significant underdog in their rematch. And at 34 years old and 38 bouts into his professional career, this will be one of the biggest fights of his life. If he wins, he's champion again, proves the doubters wrong, and likely sets up a lucrative trilogy bout. But if he loses, he'll be far from another title shot, and there will be no doubt the "Pitbull" era is indeed over.
Where will the Nemkov-Anderson winner stand?
The UFC is thought to have the best talent in the sport, but Bellator's light heavyweight division gives the top MMA promotion a run for its money.
Nemkov and Anderson are both among the top 10 light heavyweights in the world - if not the top five. There's even a case to be made that the winner of their fight is the best in the division, regardless of promotion. That's especially true if Anderson wins, given his previous accomplishments.
Nemkov has only faced one fighter currently ranked in the UFC's top 15 at light heavyweight - Jiri Prochazka in 2015 - so it's tough to gauge how he'd fare against the UFC's best at 205 pounds. But his overall skill set and wins over former UFC contenders Ryan Bader and Phil Davis make it clear that Nemkov is, at the very least, a top fighter in the division.
Anderson, on the other hand, holds a 2018 victory over current UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira and a 2015 triumph over former champ Jan Blachowicz (he lost to Blachowicz in a 2020 rematch). That's a big deal, and Anderson has recently spoken about deserving more respect.
There's no doubt Nemkov and Anderson are elite light heavyweights. They're competing for an even higher position in the worldwide rankings Friday - even though they won't be fighting under the UFC banner - and some just might view the winner as the best of the best at 205 pounds.
Title implications for Luque and Muhammad?
Luque and Muhammad have been on an absolute roll since their first encounter in 2016.
Luque is 10-2 since knocking out Muhammad in the first round at UFC 205, Muhammad is 10-1 (1 NC), and both have climbed the welterweight ladder to become top contenders.
This rematch between No. 5 and No. 6 is heavy with title implications. Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is currently expected to defend his title against Leon Edwards later in 2022. Beyond that, Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev are the only contenders who rank ahead of Luque and Muhammad and are coming off wins.
Luque-Muhammad may not be a No. 1 contender bout, but the winner would be no more than one win from a title shot - and in prime position to step in against Usman if Edwards or Chimaev is unavailable.