Bellator 297 results, highlights: Vadim Nemkov outclasses Yoel Romero to retain light heavyweight title

The Russian champion was too crisp and too powerful for the aging veteran to overcome on Friday in Chicago

CHICAGO -- For years, Yoel Romero has been one of MMA's ageless wonders. On Friday night, light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov attempted to take on the role of Father Time when he defended his belt against Romero in the main event of Bellator 297. While Nemkov took a wide decision after mostly one-sided traffic, Romero again proved there's a little left in the tank with some late dramatics.

Nemkov was quick to establish his dominance on the feet while routinely splitting Romero's high and tight defensive guard. Romero struggled to get his shots off as Nemkov popped speedy combinations that snapped the challenger's head back over and over.

Romero, 46, was attempting to make history by not only capturing his first world championship, but also by becoming the oldest fighter to ever win a world title in a major mixed martial arts promotion.

It became clear quickly that entering the record books was going to be a tall task for Romero as he simply could not match the younger champion's speed.

This led to late stretches where Romero was dramatically pretending to be hurt, drawing laughs from the crowd even as he continued to eat powerful strikes from Nemkov. There was a moment in the fourth round where, while feigning injury, Romero was able to nearly catch Nemkov with a big counter. The moment saw Nemkov slip to the canvas, drawing a roar from the pro-Romero crowd who believed the slip to be a knockdown.

After four rounds of one-way traffic in favor of Nemkov, somehow Romero managed to make things interesting in the fifth and final round.

Nemkov began fishing for takedowns, shooting in and reaching for Romero's legs. This allowed Romero to engage in a clinch, take the fight to the ground and spend the final minute of the round pounding on Nemkov's head and body.

It was too little, too late for Romero, as the official judges scorecards read 49-46 across the board, all for Nemkov, who improved to 9-0 in Bellator and extended his record for most successful light heavyweight championship defenses to four.

CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Friday bringing you all the results and highlights from the Bellator 297 below.

Bellator 297 card and results

• Vadim Nemkov (c) def. Yoel Romero via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
• Sergio Pettis (c) def. Patricio Pitbull via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
• Corey Anderson def. Phil Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  
• Gokhan Saricam def. Daniel James via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:53 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Official result: Vadim Nemkov def. Yoel Romero via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) to retain the Bellator light heavyweight title

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:01 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Official result: Sergio Pettis def. Patricio Pitbull via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) to retain the Bellator bantamweight championship

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:53 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Yoel Romero -- Round 5: Nemkov drove for a takedown but let go and missed with a punch in the same motion. Nemkov snuck a few more punches through Romero's guard before a big combo of a straight right and left head kick. Romero continued to look for one big punch and the crowd was still reacting in big ways whenever he did throw a shot. Nemkov fished for a few more takedowns but got pushed into the cage by Romero for his troubles. Romero was able to turn the position into a takedown and quickly looked to land some ground and pound. Romero threw a series of punches to the body and did land an elbow to the head. Fairly stunning that Romero edged out the last round with that burst. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Romero (49-46)

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:50 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Yoel Romero -- Round 4: Romero is continuing to play around while getting tagged with big shots. Nemkov landed a huge left hand and a knee to the face before digging in with more punches from a variety of angles to the head and body. Nemkov also buried a hard body kick to Romero's ribs. Another hard combination landed for Nemkov and Romero stuck his tongue out. Romero did charge forward and land two shots late in the round but this remains a very one-sided fight. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Nemkov (40-36)

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:44 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Yoel Romero -- Round 3: Romero tried to get some hard-charging offense going early but wound up the one being tagged by heavy power shots coming from Nemkov. A big three-punch combo landed for Nemkov, stumbling Romero. Romero tried to fire back but kept eating big shots from the champion while pinned against the cage. Romero, tough as ever, continued to absorb the shots and look for one big counter but he looked increasingly hurt by the big shots before starting to feint being hurt for some reason, but it at least got a laugh from m the crowd. Romero did partially land a punch that saw Nemkov slip to the canvas, drawing a huge reaction from the crowd but it did not look as though it landed. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Nemkov (30-27)

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:38 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Yoel Romero -- Round 2: Nemkov again threw some early combinations, the pressure keeping Romero from getting set and letting much of his own offense go. Nemkov cracked with a left hand and body kick and then fired an overhand right and then sat down on a jab. Five Nemkov punches were up next, followed by a head kick as he continued to throw a wide variety of shots that seemed to have Romero a bit confused on where the next shot would come from. Romero took a right hand and began blinking and turned to the referee seemingly thinking he'd been poked in the eye but it appeared it was simply a hard punch that landed cleanly. Nemkov landed a few more heavy punches late in the round as Romero seemed to have little left to offer. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Nemkov (20-18)

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:32 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Vadim Nemkov (c) vs. Yoel Romero -- Round 1:  Nemkov opened with a few jabs as Romero bounced on the balls of his feet. Nemkov threw two body kicks and missed a spinning kick behind them. Romero threw a few kicks in return, with neither man having landed much of anything significant until Nemkov landed some heavy kicks and punches, going to the body and head. Romero landed a thudding calf kick and tried for a superman punch but missed. Another calf kick did land, however, briefly knocking Nemkov to the canvas. Nemkov landed a heavy right and Romero came right back with another calf kick. A Nemkov right hand stumbled Romero back into the cage. Nemkov again let a good combination go, constantly keeping pressure on Romero. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Nemkov

[Jun 16, 2023 at 11:14 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

It's main event time. Yoel Romero looks to become the oldest champion ever in a major mixed martial arts promotion when he takes on dominant light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov.