Bellator News

Bellator President Scott Coker reacts to talk of UFC, ONE Championship trading fighters
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.

Chael Sonnen lists the fighters he considers the best heavyweights in MMA history
Tom Taylor - October 21, 2018
Last weekend, in the main event of Bellator 208, former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen was stopped in the first round by heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. Post-fight Sonnen was quick to offer praise to Emelianenko. In fact, Sonnen says he considers Fedor Emelianenko the best heavyweight in MMA history, while he also considers Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett frontrunners in that debate.

Dillon Danis declares himself the best grappler in MMA, says 'there isn’t even a close second'
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.

Betting Odds released for January's Fedor Emelianenko vs. Ryan Bader fight
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).

EXCLUSIVE | Javy Ayala sees fight with Frank Mir as 'opportunity of a lifetime'
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.

Chael Sonnen opens up on loss to Fedor Emelianenko: 'Everything hurts'
Tom Taylor - October 16, 2018
Last Saturday night, in the main event of Bellator 208, former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen stepped into the cage with heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko. Although Sonnen had some success with his wrestling in this fight, he was ultimately stopped in the waning moments of the first round, as Emelianenko unleashed a veritable meteor shower of ground-and-pound upon his head. Speaking on The MMA Hour on Monday, Chael Sonnen opened up on this loss. He says that, after being dropped early and pounded out on the mat, he’s in significant physical pain. No surprise there.

Scott Coker responds to 'rubbish' fight-fixing questions after Bellator 208 main event
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.

Chael Sonnen claims he once 'fought Georges St-Pierre in a basement in LA'
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.

Benson Henderson lectures Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor in impassioned post-fight speech
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.

Ryan Bader discusses upcoming showdown with Fedor Emelianenko: 'It's kind of surreal'
Tom Taylor - October 14, 2018
Over the weekend, Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko both won their Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bouts, defeating Matt Mitrione and Chael Sonnen respectively. With these wins, the pair will now fight each other sometime in the new year, and the winner will be crowned the Bellator heavyweight champion. For Ryan Bader, the chance to fight the legendary Fedor Emelianenko is obviously an exciting opportunity. Yet while he admits it’s a little surreal to fight such an icon of the sport, he assures he’s approaching it like any other fight.

Chael Sonnen praises Fedor Emelianenko after Bellator 208: I've never 'been ground-and-pounded like that'
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.”

Ryan Bader wishes he'd had the chance to fight Daniel Cormier, Cormier agrees 'it would have been a fun one'
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.”