Gadzhi Rabadanov is the Bellator 297 fighter to watch
Gadzhi Rabadanov is the fighter to watch at Bellator 297.
Russia's Gadzhi Rabadanov, who fights out of Saint Petersburg, is 19-4-2 and is looking to pick up his sixth win in a row this weekend at Bellator 297. Bellator returns to Chicago, where Rabadanov will face Pieter Buist, who is coming over from ONE Championship after losing two straight, in a lightweight bout.
Rabadanov went undefeated as an amateur before making his pro debut in 2013. Rabadanov was a champion in the local promotion of Gorilla Fighting and went 11-3-2 with nine finishes before signing with the PFL in 2019 but missed weight and wouldn't continue in the tournament. Going 3-1 after that, Rabadanov joined Bellator and is a perfect 4-0 since 2021, currently the No. 8-ranked lightweight. Rabadanov's Bellator resume includes Daniel Carey, Bobby King, Koji Takeda, and Jay Jay Wilson, who is no longer undefeated thanks to him.
Gadzhi Rabadanov takes on Pieter Buist at Bellator 297
Rabadanov's opponent Buist fights out of the Netherlands and is looking to get back in the win column. Buist was a champion in the local promotion World Fighting League and went 14-4 with nine finishes before joining ONE Championship in 2019. Buist won three straight (featuring a win against Eduard Folayang) before losing his last two, to Timofey Nastyukhin and most recently to Ruslan Emilbek, before parting ways with the organization.
Buist will hold a 5-inch height advantage but is the older fighter by 5+ years. With a win for Rabadanov, he can look to climb the lightweight rankings and start knocking on the door for a title shot.
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