Fedor vs. Bader Set For January

The Finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix officially has a date and a venue.

Previously mentioned by Bellator President Scott Coker, the company has officially announced that the Grand Prix finals will take place at The Forum in Inglewood, California on January 26. The finals pit Fedor Emelianenko against current Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader for the Bellator  heavyweight title.

Fedor Emelianenko & @RyanBader meet in the finals of the #BellatorWGP Jan 26th at @TheForum in Los Angeles. Presale begins Wednesday on https://t.co/Vaz4tapQg5 and https://t.co/eHO16iDdOb pic.twitter.com/TQropgxRGn

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) October 16, 2018

The announcement comes fresh off the semifinals which took place at Bellator 207 and 208 on October 12 and 13, respectively.

Emelianenko’s journey to the finals started with consecutive first-round knockout wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The first win for Emelianenko was against Frank Mir and then against Chael Sonnen in the semifinals. Emelianenko, who debuted for Bellator in 2017 in a losing effort against Matt Mitrione, will be fighting for his first heavyweight title since being WAMMA champion several years ago.

Bader won the promotion’s light heavyweight title back in 2017 against Phil Davis and even successfully defended the title later that year before entering the Heavyweight Grand Prix. Bader won his quarterfinal matchup with a 15-second knockout win over “King Mo” Lawal and then won his semifinal fight with a dominant performance over Matt Mitrione. This will be the first heavyweight world title fight for Bader.

The finals is set to crown Bellator’s fourth-ever heavyweight champion and first champion since 2016.