Bellator News

Christopher Taylor - December 5, 2021

Scott Coker says that Bellator is not currently interested in signing free agent Kevin Lee following his UFC release. The former interim lightweight title challenger, Lee (18-7 MMA), was let go by Dana White and company last week after suffering setbacks in four of his past five Octagon appearances.

Chris Taylor - December 4, 2021

Kyoji Horiguchi has provided fans with an update following his nasty knockout loss to Sergio Pettis last night at Bellator 272. Pettis (21-5 MMA) and Horiguchi (29-3 MMA) squared off yesterday evening in Connecticut with the Bellator bantamweight title on the line.

Chris Taylor - December 3, 2021

Tonight’s Bellator 272 event was headlined by a highly anticipated title fight featuring Sergio Pettis taking on Kyoji Horiguchi. Pettis (21-5 MMA) was looking to earn his first career title defense when he took on former champion Horiguchi (29-3 MMA) this evening.

Chris Taylor - December 3, 2021

Sergio Pettis pulled off one of the craziest comebacks in recent memory when he knocked out Kyoji Horiguchi in tonight’s Bellator 272 main event. Pettis (21-5 MMA) was looking to earn his first career title defense when he took on former champion Horiguchi (29-3 MMA) this evening.

Adam D Martin - November 28, 2021

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg explained in a recent interview how leaving the UFC for Bellator saved her MMA career. Cyborg was the former UFC women’s featherweight champion, but after losing her belt to Amanda Nunes, her relationship with the UFC and its president Dana White started to worsen. After Cyborg beat Felicia Spencer in 2019, the UFC released her from her contract after White said she was not easy to work with. Not long after that, Cyborg signed with Bellator, where she has been competing ever since with four wins, all of them by stoppage.

Adam D Martin - November 26, 2021

Newly-crowned Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull pointed out the next challengers for his Bellator lightweight title. Pitbull recently won Bellator’s vacant 155lbs title when he knocked out Peter Queally. The belt was recently vacated by his brother Patricio Pitbull, who let go of his lightweight belt in order to focus on his rematch with AJ McKee for the featherweight crown.

Adam D Martin - November 25, 2021

Former Bellator and UFC heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione explained why he is “done with MMA” following his three-fight losing skid. Mitrione recently was finished by Tyrell Fortune in Bellator for his third straight loss and his fifth fight without a win in the promotion. Bellator released Mitrione, and he now takes on Alexander Flores in Triad Combat. Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour, Mitrione admitted that he is probably done with MMA now, and he explained exactly why.

Drake Riggs - November 24, 2021

Kyoji Horiguchi is a man on a mission. The current RIZIN FF 135-pound bantamweight king recaptured the title he never officially lost on New Year’s Eve 2020 and hasn’t fought since. Now, Horiguchi has signed with Bellator in a rare deal that sees him remain the RIZIN champ and seeks the other title he relinquished when sidelined in all of 2020 recovering from an ACL tear.

Drake Riggs - November 22, 2021

Gabi Garcia isn’t buying the Kayla Harrison hype. The 31-year old two-time Olympic Judo gold medalist in Harrison is currently testing the free agency waters after an 11-0 career in the PFL (12-0 overall). When it comes to likely options, the UFC, Bellator, or returning to the promotion where she’s won two million-dollar titles seem most likely

Adam D Martin - November 21, 2021

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg says she is interested in facing Cat Zingano next, saying it would be a “great fight.” Cyborg is coming off of a quick first-round KO win over Sinead Kavanagh at Bellator 271. For Cyborg, she is currently riding a five-fight win streak including a four-fight winning streak since she joined Bellator with four wins coming by way of knockout. Cyborg has looked absolutely phenomenal so far in Bellator and she is excited to get back out there and perform. Following her quick win over Kavanagh, Cyborg is now looking ahead at who she could potentially be facing next, and Zingano seems to be the ideal opponent for her.

Christopher Taylor - November 20, 2021

Jake Hager has refuted Jon Jones’ claim that they are set to compete in a grappling match at next month’s ‘Fury Pro Grappling’ event. Earlier this afternoon Jones (26-1 MMA) took to social media where he suggested that he was set to compete in a grappling match opposite the undefeated Bellator heavyweight on December 9th.

Chris Taylor - November 20, 2021

Jon Jones will be returning to action under the Fury Grappling banner for a bout with undefeated Bellator heavyweight Jake Hager. The former UFC light heavyweight kingpin, Jones (26-1 MMA), announced the news just moments ago on social media.

Adam D Martin - November 14, 2021

MMA legend Cris Cyborg praised Sinead Kavanagh following her KO win at Bellator 271, calling her “One of the toughest women I’ve ever met.” Cyborg took on Kavanagh in the main event of this past Friday’s Bellator 271 event, and she won the fight in spectacular fashion when she knocked out Kavanagh in the first round. Take a look at the video of the knockout below. As you can see, Cyborg caught Kavanagh on the feet with a heavy blow, dropped her to the mat, then finished her with strikes.

Chris Taylor - November 13, 2021

Bellator is planning to have a ‘massive’ retirement fight for MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in his home country of Russia. Emelianenko (40-6 MMA) recently returned to action at last month’s Bellator 269 event, where he scored a sensational knockout victory over Tim Johnson (see that here). The win marked Fedor’s second first round finish in a row, as he had previously stopped Quinton ‘Rampage‘ Jackson.

Christopher Taylor - November 11, 2021

Bellator standout Usman Nurmagomedov, the cousin of UFC icon Khabib, was detained in Moscow following a hit and run on a police officer. The incident allegedly occurred earlier today while Usman and a friend were traveling by car to an airport near Kaspiysk in Dagestan.

Cole Shelton - November 5, 2021

Bellator is back in Dublin, Ireland for Bellator 270 and in the co-main event, a bantamweight grudge match between James Gallagher and Patchy Mix goes down. James Gallagher (11-1) is riding a four-fight winning streak but this will be his first fight with James Krause as his head coach. He last fought back in October of 2020 as he submitted Cal Ellenor. He’s currently ranked sixth in Bellator‘s bantamweight rankings.

Adam D Martin - October 26, 2021

Bellator light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson explained how using MMA math will prove he’s the best light heavyweight in the world. Anderson recently knocked out Ryan Bader in the semifinals of the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix. Following the fight, he proclaimed himself as the best light heavyweight in the world despite the fact that Blachowicz KOed him just last year in the UFC. While it’s true that Anderson did beat Blachowicz the first time they met at UFC 191 in 2015, Blachowicz has since gone on to become the UFC light heavyweight champion. Since he is the champion, you have to give him the credit he deserves.

Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021

Bellator 268 went down on October 16 in Arizona and the salaries for the fight card have now been released. In the main event of Bellator 268, Vadim Nemkov defended his light heavyweight title against Julius Anglickas with a submission win. The co-main event saw Corey Anderson TKO Ryan Bader in under a minute as Nemkov and Anderson will now fight one another in the grand prix finals. The date of the finals has not been announced by Bellator but will likely happen sometime early in 2022.