Bellator News

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

The end of 2018 marked a new era of sorts when it comes to cross-promotion in MMA as Bellator and RIZIN teamed up like never before. For RIZIN’s annual big New Year’s Eve show, in 2018 that was RIZIN 14, one of their biggest stars, Kyoji Horiguchi would fight for the inaugural bantamweight title. His opponent would be none other than Bellator’s bantamweight champion, Darrion Caldwell.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

Often times when fighters are undefeated, they can understandably be arrogant and perhaps overly confident. The same can be said for champions. So when mixing the two, it’s rare to see that zero stay a zero for all too long. However, despite being both undefeated and a champion, these descriptions wouldn’t be fitting for Bellator’s first and only flyweight queen, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. Similarly, like another undefeated champion in Virna Jandiroba who is also fighting this weekend, Macfarlane manages to stay very grounded and humble on her journey although many others in her position wouldn’t be. And that she attributes to her realistic view of the MMA landscape after having seen others fall before her.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

Tomorrow night in San Jose, California, the Bellator welterweight and flyweight titles will be on the line. Looking for his first Bellator welterweight title defense and to advance to the semifinals of the welterweight Grand Prix will be Rory MacDonald who is back in his normal weight class after trying to dethrone middleweight champ, Gegard Mousasi.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

When it comes to the discussion of who is the greatest lightweight fighter of all time, debates can’t be had without the mention of the former WEC and UFC king, ‘Smooth’ Benson Henderson. Continuously underappreciated throughout his reigns as champion, Henderson was as active of a champion as any and constantly looking for a fight. Although no longer the champion, that attitude remains the same with a similar goal in mind.

Drake Riggs - April 25, 2019

Current Bellator welterweight champion, Rory MacDonald has become fairly familiar with ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler over the years. Formerly a staple of the UFC’s 170-pound division, MacDonald would fight Lawler twice during his UFC run. The first time being in a three-round affair that saw him on the wrong end of a split decision. Their second encounter would come two years later as Lawler was now the champion.

Drake Riggs - April 25, 2019

History will be made this Saturday night at Bellator 220… And that will all be determined by the flyweights. In the night’s co-main event, we have the returning unbeaten champion, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane as she looks to extend her title defense number to three straight. On the other side of the equation, there’s the always game Veta Arteaga who hopes to play spoiler and become the promotion’s second 125-pound queen.

Drake Riggs - April 25, 2019

The man known as ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ Phil Davis, has been one of the best light heavyweights in the world since he started climbing his way up the UFC ladder from 2010 to 2014. After going 9-3 (1 NC) inside the Octagon, Davis would find his way to the Bellator cage where he would make his debut in the Bellator 142 one night tournament that saw him submit former champion, Emanuel Newton, before knocking out a fellow former UFC vet in Francis Carmont.

Drake Riggs - April 25, 2019

The last bout of the Bellator welterweight Grand Prix’s opening round is set to headline this Saturday night’s Bellator 220 event live in San Jose, California. The bout will be the first of the tournament to feature the title being contested. Of course, that means that the current champion, Rory MacDonald, will be putting his crown on the line as he faces off with seasoned veteran, Jon Fitch.

Tom Taylor - April 25, 2019

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson is now firmly embedded as a member of the Bellator roster. In fact, he’s set to return to the cage at Bellator 220 this weekend, where he’ll take on Adam Piccolotti in a lightweight contender bout. As he prepares for this imminent challenge, Benson Henderson is happy to have put some distance between himself and the drama that is currently plaguing the UFC lightweight division. He’s witnessed the heat between reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor, and the difficulty top contenders like Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson have had getting title shots, and he’s thanking the Lord that he’s no longer in the thick of it.

Mike Straus - April 24, 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) isn’t the only show streaming live Saturday night as Bellator 220 will go head to head with the MMA juggernaut. While Bellator has a habit of filling up the undercard with local fighters to help move ticket sales, that often times affects the quality of fights the fans get. There’s no denying the strength of the five-fight main card that will stream live via DAZN. However, the prelims fall a bit short of what one would expect from a card of this magnitude.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2019

UFC veterans Chael Sonnen and Lyoto Machida are scheduled to collide in a light heavyweight showdown at Bellator NYC on July 14. Yet on Wednesday afternoon, Sonnen took to Twitter and cast doubt on the status of this matchup. Machida:

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2019

Jon Fitch is fighting for the Bellator welterweight title on Saturday night, in the last first-round bout of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. The 41-year-old, who is 1-0 inside the Bellator cage, will be taking on the champion Rory MacDonald in the main event of Bellator 220. Although Fitch is the underdog heading into this fight, the veteran is more than ready to do what he has to do to win.

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2019

There is no question the emotions were running high for Ilima-Lei MacFarlane’s last fight. MacFarlane got to defend her Bellator flyweight title at home in Hawaii where she defeated Valerie Letourneau in the third-round by submission. The win capped off an emotional fight week for MacFarlane. Now, she is set for yet another title defense this Saturday when she takes on Veta Arteaga at Bellator 220 in San Jose, California. Although Hawaii was MacFarlane’s real homecoming, she lives and trains in California which makes this yet another fight ‘at home’.

Tom Taylor - April 19, 2019

On April 27, in the main event of Bellator 220, Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will attempt to defend his title against former World Series of Fighting champ Jon Fitch in the final, first-round bout of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. Speaking to Robin Black and DAZN ahead of this fight, MacDonald’s coach Firas Zahabi, the main behind Tristar MMA, went off Jon Fitch, calling him a cheater and a coward.

Drake Riggs - April 16, 2019

The last time we saw Leslie Smith compete in MMA was in July 2017. She would pick up a second-round TKO over Amanda Lemos to extend her 135-pound winning streak to three straight. Following the Lemos bout, Smith was lined up to face the undefeated top prospect, Aspen Ladd at UFC Atlantic City in April 2018. The fight was the last on Smith’s contract and unfortunately, Ladd would end up missing weight which led to some negotiating to work things out.

James Lynch - April 10, 2019

Bellator’s two division champion is staying put. To no one’s surprise, Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Ryan Bader has re-signed with the promotion. According to MMAFighting it’s an exclusive, multi-year deal with the promotion. Bader (27-5) has yet to lose a fight under the Bellator banner. After years of coming up short for a UFC title shot, Bader captured the Bellator light heavyweight title in his promotional debut in 2017, defeating Phil Davis in a rematch at Bellator NYC. Following a stoppage victory over Linton Vassell at Bellator 186, the 35-year-old would step up a weight class and compete in the Heavyweight Grand Prix. From there, the Power MMA and Fitness product would stop Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at Bellator 199 and dominate Matt Mitrione at Bellator 207 on route to a unanimous decision victory.

James Lynch - April 9, 2019

Dillon Danis will not make his return to the Bellator cage quite as soon as we initially expected. Danis was originally scheduled to face Max Humphrey on May 11 on the Bellator 221 card in Chicago, however plans have changed. Instead, he will fight June 14 at Bellator NYC in New York against the same opponent in a 175-pound catchweight bout. The 25-year-old announced the switch up on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show Monday.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

Bellator 221 is set to be a big one as the promotion heads to Chicago, Illinois on May 11 and is headlined by their second ever champion vs champion bout. Going at it will be the featherweight and lightweight champions, Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire and Michael Chandler. Both of which are two of the most accomplished fighters in Bellator history. Factually, they are the most accomplished in their respective divisions.