Bellator postpones three events including card headlined by Ryan Bader

Bellator announced on Monday that it is postponing three of its upcoming events including a card that was set to be headlined by double champ Ryan Bader.

Most sports leagues around the world have postponed their upcoming cards due to the coronavirus outbreak, and Bellator will not buck the trend. While UFC president Dana White is doing everything in his power to go through with UFC 249 in three weeks’ time despite the risk, Bellator president Scott Coker instead is playing it safe and postponing three cards. The promotion released a press release Monday with the news.

Here’s the press release Bellator just released on postponing its next 3 events pic.twitter.com/u98QdU0w7d

— Jason Floyd (@Jason_Floyd) March 31, 2020

The three Bellator cards that were announced to be postponed are the following:

• Bellator 242 was set for May 9 in San Jose, Calfornia. The card was supposed to be headlined by Ryan Bader defending the light heavyweight title against Vadim Nemkov and the co-main event was scheduled to be Douglas Lima vs. Gegard Mousasi for the vacant middleweight title.
• Bellator European Series London was set for May 16 in London, England. The main event was set to feature top-rated bantamweight prospect James Gallagher vs. Cal Ellenor.
• Bellator 243 was set for May 29 in Temecula, California, with the main event featuring Liz Carmouche vs. Mandy Böhm in a women’s flyweight bout.

The promotion previously had to cancel Bellator 241 earlier this month on the day of the event but decided to pay its fighters their purses due to the short-notice cancelation of the event. Coker also paid all of its officials for the card, despite it not taking place.

Bellator 244 is set to take place in early June and is set to feature Michael Chandler against Benson Henderson in a rematch. So far that card seems safe, but if the coronavirus crisis lasts longer than expected then that card could also potentially be postponed.

Do you agree with Bellator postponing three of its upcoming events?