Bellator News

Adam Martin - December 14, 2020

The opening betting odds have been revealed for a potential light heavyweight bout in Bellator between Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson. On Monday, Bellator announced that Romero is the latest member of the promotion’s roster. Unlike in the UFC, where Romero competed at 185lbs, he will move back up to 205lbs for his move to Bellator, the same weight class he competed at back in the Strikeforce days. It was in Strikeforce where he worked with current Bellator president Scott Coker, who last week announced he had signed Anthony Johnson to Bellator.

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2020

Former UFC middleweight title contender Yoel Romero has found a new home, having signed a deal with Bellator MMA. The UFC is currently in the process of downsizing its roster, and has cut many fighters over the last few weeks. While many of the promotion’s cuts have been fairly easy to justify, it’s decision to release Romero came as a massive surprise to pretty much everybody.

Adam Martin - December 11, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed that he will not block Dillon Danis from making the move to the boxing ring for a Jake Paul fight. In the wake of Paul’s recent KO win over Nate Robinson on the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. PPV card, there have been plenty of athletes calling out Paul for his next fight. One of those athletes is Danis, the Bellator middleweight. Both Danis and Paul haven’t liked each other for a long time and it’s gotten to a new level of hatred between the two since Paul finished Robinson. It seems like there is a lot of interest on both sides to potentially book Paul vs. Danis in a boxing match in 2021.

Harry Kettle - December 11, 2020

Bellator star Ilima-Lei Macfarlane has explained her relief after losing the Women’s Flyweight Championship to Juliana Velasquez last night. Macfarlane was viewed by some as an underdog heading into the bout last night that saw the two put their respective unbeaten records on the line. In the end, it was Velasquez who was able to grind out the unanimous decision win that ensured she was the one who walked away as champion.

Harry Kettle - December 10, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker has laid out his plans in the wake of the announcement that they have signed Anthony Johnson. The world of mixed martial arts was stunned earlier this week by the news that Johnson had parted ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in favor of signing a contract with Bellator.

Adam Martin - December 9, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker explained why Bellator isn’t interested in signing free-agent middleweight fighter Yoel Romero to a contract. The UFC cut Romero last week as part of its 60 roster cuts by the end of 2020. The move to release Romero came as a big surprise considering he had just fought Israel Adesanya in his last fight at UFC 248 for the middleweight belt. But with the UFC in roster-cutting mode, the 43-year-old Romero and his three straight losses were deemed expendable. UFC president Dana White said that the cuts are purely roster-space motivated and have nothing to do with cost-cutting measures due to COVID-19.

Adam Martin - December 9, 2020

Women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is official for her Bellator 254 title fight, but Goiti Yamauchi missed weight by six pounds. Macfarlane is looking to once again defend the Bellator women’s flyweight title and she puts it on the line Thursday night at Bellator 254 against Juliana Velasquez. These are actually two undefeated fighters so this is a very intriguing matchup. At the official weigh-ins ahead of the fights at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, both fighters made weight and this fight is official, with both fighters coming in just a hair under 125lbs.

Tom Taylor - December 9, 2020

Anthony Johnson has parted ways with the UFC, and will instead be mounting his comeback in the Bellator MMA cage. News of this move comes from Ariel Helwani of ESPN.

bjpenndotcom - December 1, 2020

There’s no question that 2020 has been rough for mixed martial arts. COVID-19 hit professional sports particularly hard, and the road to recovery only began in recent months. But despite the difficult challenges, MMA is looking forward to a fantastic 2021. That’s because the sport is absolutely stacked with talented fighters who are ready to cement themselves as the best in the business. Here are 10 reigning MMA world champions from organizations around the world who are primed for an epic 2021.

Cole Shelton - November 29, 2020

Dillon Danis appears open to boxing Jake Paul. In the lead-up to Paul’s fight against Nate Robinson, the YouTuber had been calling out several MMA fighters like Conor McGregor, Ben Askren, and Jorge Masvidal. But, even prior to that, he and Danis had been going back-and-forth.

Adam Martin - November 26, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker suggested that promotional welterweight champion Douglas Lima could take on Neiman Gracie in his next fight. Lima recently moved up to middleweight in a failed effort to become a two-division champion in Bellator when he lost a unanimous decision to Gegard Mousasi. Lima is expected to move back to 170lbs for his next fight, and fighters such as Michael Page and Lorenz Larkin have been teased as potential opponents. But it looks like Bellator has another fight in mind for Lima following his recent loss to Mousasi.

Adam Martin - November 26, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says that his featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull would KO the UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski. Coker has said that he believes Pitbull is the best featherweight in MMA right now, and there’s certainly an argument to be made that he is. The Brazilian is riding a six-fight win streak that includes wins over the likes of Michael Chandler, Juan Archuleta, Daniel Weichel, and in his last fight, Pedro Carvalho. Since Pitbull is in Bellator and not in the UFC, most fans and media would likely say that Volkanovski is still the top dog at 145lbs right now. But Pitbull is absolutely right there in the conversation.