Bellator books 2 title fights, moves to 5 rounds for future main events

Bellator has finalized championship bouts in the men's lightweight and women's featherweight divisions, and it's moving to a five-round format for all main events as of 2022, president Scott Coker revealed Wednesday.

Patricky Freire and Peter Queally will square off for the lightweight belt - which Patricio Freire vacated - at Bellator 270 on Nov. 5. Cris Cyborg will defend the featherweight strap against Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 271 a week later.

Meanwhile, the promotion is looking to book Patricio against men's featherweight king A.J. McKee. McKee submitted the former multi-division champion to claim the 145-pound title in July.

"This is a fight we've been talking to both camps about, and it's not put together by any means, but I think it's headed in the right direction," Coker said, according to MMA Fighting's Shaun Al-Shatti.

Cyborg has defended her championship twice since winning it, most recently defeating Leslie Smith via TKO in May. Patricio never defended the lightweight championship despite holding it for over two years, instead focusing on featherweight title defenses.

Meanwhile, Coker said Bellator will implement five-round headliners for all cards as of 2022, aligning with the UFC's format.

Bellator recently staged a highly anticipated non-title rematch between Michael Page and Douglas Lima, which went to the scorecards after three rounds and resulted in somewhat of an anticlimactic finish.