Neiman Gracie is part of the fourth generation of the legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu family and he’s undoubtedly had the most success in MMA in recent memory, so now he’ll be featuring in the co-main event at Bellator 266. He started off his professional MMA career with two quick submission finishes for World Series of Fighting before moving to Bellator, the promotion he’s called home since 2015. It was there that he took his unbeaten record to 9-0 with several more beautiful submission wins over increasingly dangerous fighters like Ed Ruth and Javier Torres.
This culminated in his Welterweight title shot against Rory MacDonald where he wasn’t quite able to get his gameplan going and ended up on the losing end of a unanimous decision for the first time in his career. He bounced back quickly by finishing UFC veteran Jon Fitch with a heelhook at Bellator 246 before stumbling again when he lost another unanimous decision against Jason Jackson earlier this year. Now Neiman Gracie has the opportunity to right the ship once again in front of a big crowd with a co-main event slot at Bellator 266.
He will be facing off against Mark Lemminger in the supporting slot, shortly before an epic battle between a pair of UFC veterans, Phil Davis and Yoel Romero. While Lemminger has never lost a fight by submission before, Gracie is no ordinary grappler and a finish here will put him on equal footing with Goiti Yamauchi as the fighter with the most submission wins in Bellator history.
The full Bellator 266 fight card, including the co-main event featuring Neiman Gracie and Mark Lemminger, will be available to watch live as a PPV on ShowTime on September 18th, click here to subscribe and watch.