Bellator News

Tom Taylor - May 8, 2018

Over the last few weeks, there’s been significant buzz about a potential fight between Bellator welterweight champ Rory MacDonald, and former Bellator and ONE welterweight champ Ben Askren. While this fight is one that most fans want to see, the key roadblock is that, even in his retirement, Askren remains under contract with ONE Championship. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Bellator President Scott Coker divulged that he recently met with ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong to discuss a possible Askren vs. MacDonald matchup. While we already know that Coker isn’t interested in bringing Askren back to Bellator for a one-off fight, it sounds like he is interested in swapping fighters with ONE Championship in the future.

Chris Taylor - April 28, 2018

Bellator 198 Results: Fedor Emelianenko KO’s Frank Mir A highly anticipated heavyweight fight between former UFC champion Frank Mir and former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko served as the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 198 event.

Chris Taylor - April 28, 2018

Bellator 198 Results: Dillon Danis submits Kyle Walker Dillon Danis made his highly anticipated mixed martials arts debut at tonight’s Bellator 198 event against opponent Kyle Walker.

Drake Riggs - April 18, 2018

Despite what many may be led to believe, there is a flawlessly dominant wrestler outside of the UFC that may be a lot more well known than people assume. That wrestler turned undefeated multi-time MMA champion is none other than ‘Funky’ Ben Askren. Askren went 18-0 in his professional career before semi-retiring this past November. Funky Ben was most well known for being the dominant champion of both Bellator and ONE Championship.

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

Dillon Danis has an MMA debut on the horizon that has long been teased since his signing with Bellator in March of last year. Dates were set and broke, set then broke again, but now it looks like everything is good to go. First reported by MMA Fighting, Danis is going to a get a big, main card slot on the big April 28th Bellator 198 card headlined by legend Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. biggest debut in MMA History. coming to a TV near you… 💰

Justin Golightly - March 2, 2018

Year after year, there always seems to be some talk here and there about Chuck Liddell returning to MMA. From UFC 205 all the way up until some heat with Chael Sonnen, it always seems to be penciled in but never actually happens. …Until now. Our own Chris Taylor has just recently broke a report that Liddell is nearing a very profitable deal with Bellator for a career victory lap in their cage. Breaking! According to sources close to the situation, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell is closing in on a multi-million dollar fight deal with Bellator MMA.

Justin Golightly - February 24, 2018

It seems like every year there is a tease that Chuck Liddell may come out of retirement for one or two more fights. This year, it seems to be a fight with former rival and UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. However, Bellator president Scott Coker is on the fence about the idea. It’s not that he wouldn’t put on the trilogy between Liddell and Ortiz, he’s just that he literally doesn’t know if he can. “My understanding is that Chuck [Liddell] is still under contract with the UFC. I’m not sure. I just thought that to be true. I don’t know the details, but when he retired, I think the contract freezes and they maintain some rights. Listen, is it a fight that would be fun to watch [between Liddell and Tito Ortiz]? I think if they both pass a physical and Tito was healthy and his neck was healthy and he was able to perform at a high level, and they were fighting, to me is it interesting? I would definitely watch it.”

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

The year of the superfight is truly upon us. Whether they all go down or not, three giant fights between champions in different divisions are expected to fight each other. Whether this is the UFC’s big explosion like the death of a star, or their metamorphosis to survive in the future, it’s clear that things are changing. So, if we’re going to crack open the door to allow for epic fights like these, why not just kick it off the hinges? Let’s take down the political boundaries between organizations and have champions be able to fight other champions to really decide who are the top fighters on our humble spinning rock. Unfortunately, that’s impossible until some sort of MMA Ali Act is passed. However, there is no red tape on our imagination, so this is what we’ll explore in the very first edition of Fight Think. 5.  Bellator World Grand Prix winner vs. Stipe Miocic/Daniel Cormier winner (Bellator heavyweight champion vs UFC heavyweight champion)

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

This Friday night, Bellator MMA will return to our screens with Bellator 194. On Thursday, the 24 fighters on the card took to the scale to weigh in for the respective battles. Unfortunately, the card’s weigh-ins were not without mishaps, as boxing transplant Heather Hardy missed weighed for her anticipated flyweight bout with fellow boxer Ana Julaton. To make matters worse, this unfortunate hiccup was due to a misunderstanding, as Hardy weighed in and, believing she’d hit her mark, began rehydrating. Only then was she told she’d missed she’d actually weighed in above the flyweight division’s 126-pound limit. Though this unfortunate miss was accidental and minuscule, Hardy will surrender 20% of her fight purse to Julaton all the same.

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Why are MMA tournaments awesome? #Bellator194 headliner and grand-prix participant @roynelsonmma explains. Full story: https://t.co/sk0ip6v0GN pic.twitter.com/WKmJWvo7fb — MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) February 15, 2018

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

After Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson got on The MMA Hour and said he wanted a fourth — yes, fourth — fight with PRIDE and UFC veteran Wanderlei Silva, we had no idea what to think. However, all that really matters is what Bellator and Silva himself thinks. He caught wind of the offer and is all for the quadrilogy with Quinton Jackson, that is only if it takes place in the Brazilian’s hometown of Curitiba. ”I will [talk to Bellator president Scott Coker about the fight], but I want to do this rematch with ‘Rampage’ [Quinton Jackson] at Arena da Baixada, in Curitiba [Brazil]. I’ll put this as a condition, to be in my hometown. Then it would be worth the effort. Money alone isn’t worth it, it has to be something more, and that would be fighting in front of my friends in Curitiba. I’m kind of big, too, with 229 pounds. I’m training a bit stronger.”

Justin Golightly - January 31, 2018

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir finally has a chance to fight one of the very best fighters of all time. Bellator has turned back all the clocks to the ol’ glory days of MMA when the grand prix tournament was still king. They’ve also brought in fighters that have never gotten a chance to face each other in all their years of being in the sport. One fight has already gone by with Chael Sonnen and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and they’ll be another one in between Mir fighting Fedor Emelianenko. While many feel he’s passed his prime, Mir assures everyone that Fedor is still Fedor. “Damn, that’s a tough first fight. No joke, Fedor [Emelianenko] is still a phenomenal fighter. I know a lot of people don’t have the eyes that I have and they look at him and go, ‘Well, look at his results.’ And that’s easy to say in our sport, you know. […] Fedor is extremely good. He’s still very quick. He hasn’t lost his power in his punches. Even when he threw the punch against [Matt] Mitrione, Mitrione fell down. Mitrione’s a big kid, y’know, a big guy. I think the difference I try to explain to everybody, [people will say], ‘Well, he used to be unbeatable.’ Yeah, that’s not because he’s gotten worse. Everybody else has gotten better.”

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Paul Daley has not been happy with Bellator MMA of late. Over the last few weeks, the British knockout artist has repeatedly shared his gripes with Bellator on Facebook. Scott Coker talking about Page at the Bellator presser, Bellator are Sooooooo on ass it’s sickening 🤢 He hasn’t fought MMA in how long, his last performance in boxing and MMA were terrible,” Daley said in a recent Facebook post. 

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

It should be no surprise to anyone that Rory MacDonald and Douglas Lima had an absolute war at Bellator 192. The damage inflicted by both men was something to behold. Attention after the fight was over was drawn towards MacDonalds severely swollen leg and possible injuries he may have endured on his grueling battle towards winning the Bellator welterweight title. Reports were released containing all the medical suspensions from Bellator 192, which stated the former UFC fighter would be out for at least six months. However, Rory MacDonald just took to social media to dismiss this news. “There are reports of me being suspended for a lengthy amount of time due to fractures in one of my hands and my leg. This is completely false. I never injured my hand at all and my left leg is not fractured, I did an X-Ray the night of fight and showed it is only a hematoma.” — Rory MacDonald today on Twitter.

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

Rory MacDonald has a reputation that transcends organizations. He is known for being violent and absorbing punishment. His legendary fight with Robbie Lawler at UFC 189 cemented MacDonald and his opponent as warriors in a completely different dimension of pain management. MacDonald ended up with injuries in that war that would haunt him for years. Despite the damage scale being off the charts, a new level was reached in his fight with Douglas Lima at Bellator 192. Rory MacDonald admitted that it was probably the worst pain he’s ever felt in his life. “Yeah, [I thought about given up] a few times. It went through my head, but I just kept pushing through it. I had to dig deep a few times and just break down some mental barriers and keep pushing. Any fight that I’ve had to endure a lot of punishment and keep going forward, yeah. Your mind always plays tricks on you and wants you to give in and it’s just being disciplined and being able to push through those doubts and anxieties. […] I knew [Douglas Lima] was good at leg kicks. I didn’t expect the low leg kicks to be problem, but they were fast and powerful. I wasn’t able to block them very well. After the first one, I knew I didn’t want to get hit with another one. And in the first round I was already pretty hurt by them. By the third, I was struggling pretty badly with it.”

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2018

Last night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 192, arguably one of its biggest cards to date. In the main event, Chael Sonnen defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by unanimous decision, advancing to the second round of the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix in the process.

Drake Riggs - January 19, 2018

Two big title fights are on the horizon at UFC 222 in March and UFC 223 in April. The #UFC223 main event WILL HAPPEN in Brooklyn! @TonyFergusonXT vs @TeamKhabib April 7th!! pic.twitter.com/6IA7P0PqwS

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

Rory MacDonald’s upcoming fight with Douglas Lima for the Bellator welterweight title is arguably the biggest fight in the organization’s history. So, needless to say, a lot of people were confused when it turned out this fight was not going to be the main event of the card. Instead, the heavyweight grand prix tournament bout would headline the Bellator event. An executive who has been carried over from Spike TV into their new Paramount network recently spoke out on the decision to clear the air. “We’ll creatively differentiate the main event card and the grand prix in many different ways. We want this creative differentiation to make the heavyweight grand prix feel like a separate and unique event to the audience and that’s why it ends the night. And moving forward, all of the Bellator tentpoles in 2018 will end with a Bellator grand prix event. It’ll make sense to you, because what we’re doing is really creating another — it’s like a show in a show. “It’s an event within the event.”