Bellator News

Drake Riggs - November 13, 2018

Fedor was the strongest, Jon Jones was the most dynamic, and Anderson Silva was the… pic.twitter.com/CpDcVVI2NG — Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) November 13, 2018

Cole Shelton - November 13, 2018

Former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will continue to fight in Bellator for the foreseeable future. The news of Henderson re-signing was first reported by MMAJunkie. It is being reported that Henderson’s contract is an “exclusive, long-term deal” with Bellator. However, it is not known how many fights the contract is for or when Henderson will return to the cage.

Chris Taylor - November 10, 2018

Undefeated welterweight fighter Ben Askren (18-0 MMA) was apparently in talks with Bellator’s Scott Coker just weeks before he was traded to the UFC by ONE Championship. According to the Bellator President, Coker, there were talks between his organization and ONE Championship to do some co-promotion which would have allowed Ben Askren to compete at Bellator’s welterweight grand prix.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

It appears the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) is still punishing people for the melee that occurred at UFC 229. Right now, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are indefinitely suspended with a hearing on December 10. Well, it appears one of McGregor’s teammates, Dillon Danis and one of Nurmagomedov’s, Zubaira Tukhugov will be facing discipline by the NSAC as well.

Cole Shelton - November 4, 2018

YouTuber Jake Paul has called out Bellator’s Dillon Danis. Paul recently participated in a boxing match against fellow YouTuber Deji, which he won. Since the bout, both Jake and his brother Logan have been wanting to fight in the UFC. Logan sent out several tweets on the subject, which prompted UFC President Dana White to say the YouTube stars would get ‘murdered’ in the UFC. 

Tom Taylor - November 1, 2018

Last night, costumed kids all over North America hit the streets on an indomitable quest for candy. This morning, these sugar-addled children are testing the very limits of their parents’ and teachers’ resolve, throwing temper tantrums and coating classroom floors in chocolate bar wrappers. Of course, children aren’t the only people who celebrate Halloween. While the kids were out trolling for sweets, many adults donned costumes of their own to celebrate the occasion. That includes some of the biggest names in our fine sport.

Cole Shelton - October 31, 2018

With 2018 closing out, news about the first UFC cards of 2019 is starting to leak. For example, we now know when are where the first pay-per-view of the year will occur.  On Jan. 26, the UFC will be heading back to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California for UFC 233, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

Earlier today, news broke that the UFC and Singapore-based MMA promotion ONE Championship were closing in on a historic trade that would send former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson to Asia, and former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren to the UFC’s Octagon. If this trade works out, it will be a massive moment in the history of our sport, as there is not much of a precedent for major promotions swapping one fighter for another on a permanent or even long-term basis. While promotions like Bellator and Rizin have shared talent before, they have not ever truly traded fighters.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2018

BJJ blackbelt Dillon Danis, who recently won his first professional MMA bout with a first-round submission of Kyle Walker under the Bellator banner, is a world-class grappler. There’s no denying that. Yet if you ask Danis himself, he’s more than just a world-class grappler. He’s the best grappler competing in MMA period — and it’s not even close. Speaking in a Sunday afternoon Instagram post, Dillon Danis proclaimed his status as the sport’s best grappler and assured that there’s not even a close second in that debate.

Chris Taylor - October 19, 2018

Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader will collide in the final of Bellator’s Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament on January 26 in Inglewood. The former PRIDE champion and mixed martial arts legend, Fedor Emelianenko, advanced to the tournament finals by defeating Chael Sonnen via first-round TKO in the main event of Bellator 208 (watch that here).

Tom Taylor - October 17, 2018

Michael Chandler is one of the best lightweight fighters in the world. For the moment, however, he is not able to test himself against the sport’s consensus best lightweight fighter, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. That’s because Chandler currently calls Bellator MMA home, whereas Nurmagomedov is tied up with a UFC contract. While Michael Chandler and Khabib Nurmagomedov currently fight for different promotions, Chandler believes it’s possible they’ll find themselves under the same roof in the future. He could wind up in the UFC, or Nurmagomedov could end up in Bellator. In fact, he believes it’s possible the UFC champ could be fighting for Bellator within a year or two.

Cole Shelton - October 17, 2018

Bellator recently announced they will be heading to Hawaii on back-to-back nights on December 14 and 15. While both cards will feature title fights, another fight that is a rather interesting one is former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will be taking on Bellator veteran Javy Ayala on the first of the two cards. Javy Ayala received the call to fight Mir in September and knew it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Cole Shelton - October 14, 2018

Chael Sonnen vs. Fedor Emelianenko, which headlined Bellator 208 on Saturday, was a fight that many fans were looking forward to, and it lived up to most expectations. Though it was not a long fight, it was a fun one until Emelianenko finished Sonnen off with a storm of first-round ground strikes. Unfortunately, this fun fight is being somewhat overshadowed by fight-fixing allegations. Some fans have speculated that Sonnen didn’t try in that fight, or that he even lost on purpose.

Cole Shelton - October 14, 2018

At Bellator 208, Chael Sonnen was taking on arguably the best heavyweight in MMA history, Fedor Emelianenko. Ultimately, Emelianenko’s power proved to be too much for the former middleweight and natural light heavyweight. Emelianenko dropped Sonnen multiple times during the fight and got the TKO win in the first round. However, even with this loss to Emelianenko, Sonnen can take pride in having fought the best of the best throughout his career. He competed in title fights against the arguable middleweight GOAT in Anderson Silva, and the consensus light heavyweight GOAT in Jon Jones.

Tom Taylor - October 14, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo5qifbn776/ On Saturday night, in the main event of Bellator 208, heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko stepped into the cage with former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen in hopes of earning a spot in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Tom Taylor - October 14, 2018

On Saturday night, in the co-main event of the action-packed Bellator 208 card, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson picked up a dominant decision win over longtime Bellator lightweight contender Saad Awad. In his post-fight interview with Bellator MMA commentator John McCarthy, Benson Henderson could have taken a moment to call for another Bellator title shot, or perhaps a rematch with fellow lightweight contender Patricky Freire. Instead, however, the former champion used his post-fight interview as an opportunity to admonish UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor for their infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl.

Tom Taylor - October 14, 2018

On Saturday night, in the main event of Bellator 208, former UFC light heavyweight and middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen came up short to heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. Although Sonnen had some success in this short but thrilling fight, landing a handful of takedowns, he had no answer for Emelianenko’s legendary power and ground and pound. “I would call him explosive,” Sonnen told the media of Emelianenko’s skill (via MMA Fighting). “With his punches, there wasn’t a ton of set-ups, they just came and they came hard. Even on the ground, I had some good positions on him and he would just explode. It weren’t exactly technique-based. It was impressive. He’s an impressive athlete.”

Tom Taylor - October 14, 2018

On Friday night, in the main event of Bellator 207, Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader advanced to the finals of the promotion’s exciting Heavyweight Grand Prix with a win over Matt Mitrione. While Bader has looked pretty much unstoppable since joining the Bellator roster — in two divisions at that — he still regrets the fact that he never got the chance to fight UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier during his time as a UFC fighter. “I do think about that,” Bader told the media after Bellator 207 (via MMAjunkie). “We all are, ‘Woulda, coulda, shoulda.’ A big reason for me to come over is I believe I was the best in the world and never got the opportunity to show it [in the UFC]. Over here I did. It’s always there. I’m a competitor, I want to be the best in the world, not, ‘Oh yeah, but there’s another organization.’ Taking nothing away from him. He’s a dominant champion. He’s one of the best to ever do it. Of course I want it. But will that ever happen? No.”