Matches to Make After Bellator 273

It has been a trying couple of years for Ryan Bader, but 2022 is off to a good start — undisputedly.

In the main event of Bellator 273 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., the Bellator MMA heavyweight champ took a closely contested unanimous decision over interim titleholder Valentin Moldavsky. With the win, “Darth” reaffirms ownership of his remaining belt and closes the chapter on a light heavyweight sojourn that consumed the last two years of his career and saw him go 1-2 with two bad knockout losses as he lost that title and was bounced from the light heavyweight grand prix.

At 38 years of age — near-prime by heavyweight standards; less so for light heavyweight, with all apologies to Glover Teixeira — and having hit a clear ceiling against younger 205’ers, Bader seems likely to stay at the big kids’ table for the foreseeable future. That is good news for a division that went sorely neglected while Bader chased two-division glory, and Bellator wasted no time in getting the machine cranking again, announcing the champ’s next defense before he even left the building Saturday. (That’s great news, as it only makes this column easier to write.)

In the wake of Bellator 273, here are some matches that ought to be made for the heavyweight champ and three other main card winners:

Ryan Bader vs. Cheick Kongo

Bader’s last fight at heavyweight before this weekend was a title defense against Kongo at Bellator 226 in September 2019, which ended in a no contest when an inadvertent but severe eye poke late in the first round rendered Kongo unable to continue. Since then, Kongo has gone 1-1, with a narrow decision loss to Timothy Johnson and a buzzer-beater submission of Sergei Kharitonov. Even by heavyweight standards, Kongo’s sometimes agonizingly deliberate anti-MMA was always built for longevity. The chiseled Frenchman is 46, yet scarcely appears to have lost a step, and remains on the fringes of the worldwide heavyweight Top 15. The rematch may not scream “fireworks,” but there will at least be an angle of elevated interest, as the fight is scheduled to take place in Kongo’s hometown of Paris on May 6.

Benson Henderson vs. Georgi Karakhanyan/Adam Piccolotti winner

It was a good night for 38-year-old former UFC stars fighting out of Arizona, as Henderson beat some long odds and snapped the 20-fight unbeaten streak of rising contender Islam Mamedov, taking an ultra-competitive split decision in Saturday’s co-main event. Frankly, it creates a bit of an embarrassing situation for all involved: Henderson entered Bellator 273 on the first three-fight skid of his career, and it was the last fight on his contract. In booking him against a 4-to-1 favorite in Mamedov, the promotion seemed to be looking for a clean break — the Dagestani would get a win over one of the greatest lightweights of all time, while Henderson’s losing streak would be extended to four as he slid out of the promotion. Instead, the tough and wily veteran nabbed an early contender for “Upset of the Year.”

With his stock now trending up rather than down, Henderson could easily test the waters of free agency, perhaps following fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens to Professional Fighters League. However, let us assume that he renews his contract with Bellator. In that case, all we know for sure about Henderson at this point is that he still has something to offer at lightweight, but has looked badly overmatched at welterweight. If the promotion wishes to keep trying to use him to put new contenders over, it could match him up with Alexander Shabliy, who won last month at Bellator 272 to go 21-3, and could use a big-name win. However, more competitively appropriate would be the winner of Karakhanyan and Piccolotti’s scheduled matchup three weeks from now at Bellator 274.

Henry Corrales vs. Aiden Lee

A fun featherweight scrap ended in frustration when Corrales landed an accidental eye poke in the third round that left Lee unable to see out of that eye, forcing a technical decision. The crowd booed Lee even as replays clearly showed the severity of the foul, more a sign of disappointment than disapproval. While an instant rematch isn’t optimal, and probably not what either man envisioned as his next step before the fight, it makes sense. While Corrales was up two rounds to none heading into the truncated final frame, both rounds had been competitive, and Lee appeared to be on his way to winning the final round before the untimely eye poke. On top of everything else, a rematch now features an actual storyline, something Bellator sometimes struggles to find and highlight outside of the very top of its divisions. Run this one back.

Sabah Homasi vs. Kyle Crutchmer

“The Sleek Sheik” showed off a slick ground game in his main card tilt with Jaleel Willis, moving effortlessly to set up an arm-triangle choke early in the first round, then squeezing for the finish. In so doing, Homasi continued to show himself to be more dangerous, and a far tougher out, than his 16-10 record would seem to imply — let alone the 0-3 he managed in the UFC. It seems almost cruel, after Homasi won as a 2-to-1 underdog, to book him against an up-and-comer who will almost certainly be an even bigger favorite, but here goes. Crutchmer took a unanimous decision over Oliver Enkamp at Bellator 272 in December to go 8-1. A former two-time All-American wrestler from Oklahoma State, Crutchmer is the right fighter with the right skills from the right camp at the right time to take the fast track to title contention, but he is also still just 28 years old and a 5-foot-8 welterweight. Homasi is exactly the kind of tough, savvy, well-rounded fighter who could provide Crutchmer a solid name for the résumé — or a stern test of whether his grappling has caught up to his wrestling.