Bellator News

Cole Shelton - March 14, 2024

Gilbert Melendez and former Bellator president Scott Coker have teamed up to create a new MMA promotion. Coker stepped away from MMA after the Bellator and PFL merger, but he is now returning to the game. Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Melendez is starting his own MMA promotion in California and has brought along Coker to help him out. No fights have been announced for the event yet, but it is expected that the card will see both veterans and prospects on it.

Cole Shelton - March 6, 2024

Anthony Taylor was supposed to box Gabe Silva, the son of Anderson Silva, later this month but that won’t be the case anymore. Taylor, the former Bellator fighter, has become one of the top draws in influencer boxing as he’s currently the Misfits boxing light heavyweight champion. Taylor is 3-1 in Misfits and was booked to defend his title against Silva on March 23 which was exciting for the MMA veteran.

Josh Evanoff - February 29, 2024

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull will be returning on March 22nd in Ireland. The Brazilian has had a rough 12 months. Patricio Pitbull has been out of action since a knockout loss to Chihiro Suzuki at Super RIZIN 2 last July, the first knockout loss of his entire career. The defeat was the second in a row for the Bellator star, previously losing to Sergio Pettis that June down at bantamweight.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2024

We have you covered for all of today’s PFL vs Bellator card, including the main event which features PFL heavyweight chap Renan Ferreira facing Bellator heavyweight champ Ryan Bader, with the winner getting the chance to fight Francis Ngannou next. Ferreira (12-3 and three No Contests) is coming off a second-round knockout win over Denis Goltsov in November to win the 2023 PFL heavyweight season. The Brazilian is 6-1 with three No Contests in PFL as he has notable wins over Maurice Greene, Matheus Scheffel, and Jamelle Jones among others in his career.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2024

We have you covered for all of today’s PFL vs Bellator card, including an intriguing main card scrap between Yoel Romero and Thiago Santos. Thiago Santos (22-11 and one No Contest) is coming off a decision loss to Rob Wilkinson back in April in his PFL debut which was later overturned to a No Contest after the Aussie failed a drug test. Before that, the Brazilian suffered a TKO loss to Jamahal Hill and a decision loss to Magomed Ankalaev.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2024

A massive MMA event goes down on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as PFL vs. Bellator champions face each other, in the first event since their merger. An 11-fight card goes down headlined by a heavyweight fight between PFL champ Renan Ferreira and Bellator champ Ryan Bader. Ferreira (12-3 and three No Contests) is coming off a second-round knockout win over Denis Goltsov in November to win the 2023 PFL heavyweight season. The Brazilian is 6-1 with three No Contests in PFL as he has notable wins over Maurice Greene, Matheus Scheffel, and Jamelle Jones among others in his career.

Josh Evanoff - February 22, 2024

Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen has high stakes heading into his return this weekend. ‘The Human Cheat Code’ is widely viewed as one of the greatest fighters outside of the UFC today. Last September, Johnny Eblen moved to 14-0 with a dominant knockout win over Fabian Edwards in the Bellator cage. Following the victory, he traded words with his opponent’s brother, Leon Edwards, in a moment that quickly went viral.

Josh Evanoff - February 20, 2024

The PFL vs. Bellator card is now finalized and features the return of Patricio Pitbull. Last November, the PFL completed their long-awaited buyout of Bellator. For most of 2023, there were discussions about the Scott Coker-led brand being bought. In the end, Donn Davis and the company decided that a roster containing the likes of the aforementioned Patricio Pitbull and Cris Cyborg was too good to pass up.

Harry Kettle - February 17, 2024

Bellator champion Ryan Bader believes a rematch against Jon Jones would go differently at heavyweight. Way back in 2011, Jon Jones and Ryan Bader clashed at light heavyweight. It was billed as an encounter that would determine who the next rising contender really is at 205 pounds, and Jones came out on top with a nice submission finish.

Josh Evanoff - January 30, 2024

Corey Anderson and Karl Moore will fight for the vacant Bellator light-heavyweight title in March. Bellator itself has had a strange last few months, to put it mildly. In November, the Scott Coker-led company was bought out by the PFL, but not to merge the two promotions. Instead, Donn Davis planned to run both companies as separate entities. But, allow for crossover between the two brands.

Josh Evanoff - January 30, 2024

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg appears to be unhappy with the PFL. It’s been a weird month or so for the legendary Brazilian. At the start of the month, Cris Cyborg was eyeing a potential bout with longtime rival Kayla Harrison for later this year. In the meantime, she booked a boxing match against Kelsey Wickstrum, the third of her career.

Harry Kettle - January 23, 2024

The upcoming PFL vs Bellator pay-per-view has lost a major welterweight showdown, according to a recent report. On February 24, we will see a blockbuster PFL vs Bellator: Champions event go down in Saudi Arabia. It serves as the first major show of this kind since PFL purchased Bellator, and both promotions are bringing their A-game when it comes to the actual card.

Josh Evanoff - January 11, 2024

The reported Bellator vs. PFL card slated for February 24th is now adding fights. In November, the Viacom-owned company was bought out by the PFL. With that, it marked a departure for figures such as Scott Coker, and others. However, Donn Davis and others plan to keep running Bellator as a separate entity and keep holding events for the foreseeable future.

Josh Evanoff - December 29, 2023

RIZIN bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta is ready for a rematch with Bellator titleholder Patchy Mix. ‘The Spaniard’ is slated to make the first title defense of his bantamweight title reign this Saturday. In the co-main event of RIZIN 45, Juan Archuleta will face former titleholder Kai Asaukra. If he can get through the Japanese fighter this weekend, he hopes to meet Patchy Mix in the near future.

Cole Shelton - December 18, 2023

UFC CEO Dana White says Bellator merging into PFL is a bad thing for MMA and the sport as a whole. Bellator was recently purchased by PFL as the two companies will merge into one. However, Bellator will continue under a “reimagined” system at PFL called the Bellator International Champions Series. The Bellator series will include eight events per year with each card featuring two title fights at the top.

Josh Evanoff - December 7, 2023

Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler is a bit sad to see their recent sale to the PFL. ‘Iron’ is now one of the UFC’s biggest stars and most entertaining fighters. Although, Michael Chandler hasn’t been seen in the cage since a submission loss to Dustin Poirier well over a year ago. Now, the former Bellator champion has been stuck on the sidelines, waiting for a long-awaited fight with Conor McGregor.

Susan Cox - November 28, 2023

Bellator executive Mike Kogan is claiming ONE Championship is about to go out of business. The announcement came last week that Bellator was no longer a standalone entity.  The promotion was acquired by the PFL (Professional Fighters League).

Cole Shelton - November 27, 2023

Bellator executive Mike Kogan detailed what started the end of the promotion. It was announced last week that the PFL had bought Bellator as the promotion had been looking for a buyer for quite some time. After months of negotiation, a deal got done and according to Kogan, he says a lot of blame for Bellator’s downfall will be on Showtime.