- Source: Road to Dubai Champions Series
Road to Dubai Champions Series: Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes (also known as Bellator Champions Series 6) is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that will take place on January 25, 2025, at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Background
The event will mark the organization debut in United Arab Emirates.
The Champion Series 6 event was initially scheduled to take place on November 16, 2024 at Adidas Arena in Paris, France with a Bantamweight title bout between Patchy Mix and Leandro Higo as the main event. However, this event was later cancelled due to unspecified reasons.
A Bellator Lightweight World Championship bout between current champion Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes is expected to headline the event.
A heavyweight bout between former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov and 2022 PFL heavyweight winner Ante Delija was scheduled for the event. However, Delija withdrew due to not ever signing the contract due to him undergoing elbow surgery and was replaced by current light heavyweight champion (also The Ultimate Fighter 19 light heavyweight winner) Corey Anderson in a trilogy bout. The pairing first met at Bellator 277, which the bout ended by no-contest in round two due to accidental clash of heads rendered Nemkov unable to continue. Their second meeting took place at Bellator 288, which Nemkov defended the title and won the tournament by unanimous decision. However, on December 15, Anderson stated that the fight was off because he is "too tough of a fight" for Nemkov.
Fight card
See also
2025 in Bellator MMA
List of Bellator MMA events
List of current Bellator fighters