Bellator 290 Loses Nemkov-Romero, Gains Eblen-Tokov

A proposed Light Heavyweight title fight between division king, Vadim Nemkov, and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title contender, Yoel Romero, will no longer be co-headlining the upcoming Bellator 290 event on Feb. 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

Reason for scrapping the title fight for the event was not immediately given by the promotion, thought it is likely it will be rescheduled for later in 2023.

As a result, the fight card — which will air exclusively on CBS — will get a new co-main event as Middleweight champion, Johnny Eblen, puts his title on the line against Anatoly Tokov, who is currently ranked No. 3 on the official Bellator MMA rankings.

Tokov is currently on a seven-fight win streak, all inside the Bellator cage, which includes his latest conquest of knocking out Muhammad Abdullah in the very first round at Bellator 282 earlier this year. That was the same night Eblen defeated Gegard Mousasi to claim the 185-pound strap.

Speaking of which, Eblen is currently undefeated at 12-0 which includes going 8-0 inside the Bellator cage and is seeking the first title defense of his young professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career which began just five years ago.

Headlining Bellator 290 is a Heavyweight title fight as division king, Ryan Bader, attempts to pick up his second win over Fedor Emelianenko, who will be taking part in the final fight of his storied combat career.

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