Bellator News

Cole Shelton - October 13, 2018

Undisputed UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is in a bit of trouble following his fourth-round submission win over Conor McGregor. Nurmagomedov attacked McGregor’s team following his win, while some of Nurmagomedov’s teammates attacked the Irishman in the Octagon. It was a messy scene indeed, and now many expect the NSAC to suspend Nurmagomedov and they may keep a significant portion of his $2 million purse. While that would be a big blow to Nurmagomedov, the biggest blow is that UFC President Dana White has implied he might cut any UFC fighters involved in the Nurmagomedov-McGregor brawl. Unfortunately, Nurmagomedov’s teammate Zubaira Tukhugov was one of those fighters. If White does fire Tukhugov, whose upcoming fight with Artem Lobov has already been cancelled, then Nurmagomedov said he will never fight in the UFC again.

Drake Riggs - October 12, 2018

After their massive San Jose card with Bellator 206, Bellator MMA returns with a doubleheader of a weekend to determine the finals of their heavyweight Grand Prix. Starting things off with Bellator 207, the main event featured the first of the two semi-final matchups. But there was some great action that preceded the battle of big men.

Drake Riggs - October 12, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMAjunkie/status/1050603228079915008?s=19 “I think it discredits all the heavyweights completely [if Ryan Bader and I make it to the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix]. The best thing to do with heavyweights is to keep them the hell [away] from any other weight class. They’re the worst athletes in the room, they’re the slowest guys in the room. They’re the laziest guys in the room – which is why they weigh so goddamn much.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2018

The MMA career of Chael Sonnen is one for the history books. He’s bested opponents like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Michael Bisping, Brian Stann, Nate Marquardt, Yushin Okami and Alexey Oleynik. He’s battled legends like Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans. He helped revolutionize the way fighters promote themselves, ushering in an era of trash talk and showmanship that, though long present in boxing and pro wrestling, had not yet taken hold in MMA. If there’s one thing that has eluded Chael Sonnen over the course of his legendary MMA career, however, it’s a major world title. Though he has fought for titles in WEC and the UFC, he’s never managed to wrap a gold belt around his waist in a major promotion.

James Lynch - October 12, 2018

We won’t be seeing Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald return to the cage anytime soon. That’s according to Bellator President Scott Coker who confirmed with MMAJunkie that MacDonald suffered another broken nose injury following his loss to middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 206.

Drake Riggs - October 11, 2018

It’s definitely safe to say to that 2018 has been the year of the champion vs champion fights and as it continues to unwind, we aren’t done getting them. I mean, let’s just look at things a bit closer here. The term “super fight” has absolutely been thrown around far too loosely this year as just because a fight may be champion vs champion, it doesn’t always make it a super fight. But that’s a different debate.

Drake Riggs - October 11, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMAjunkie/status/1050465222379495424?s=19 “I felt ridiculous [filming that promo]. You know what, we did that here. I did that in a dressing room, I put that [USA outfit] on. Right as I was coming out Fedor [Emelianenko] must have been walking in. He took one look at me and laughed. I hung my head like a doufus and walked away.

Tom Taylor - October 11, 2018

On December 15, Bellator will touch down in Honolulu, Hawaii with Bellator 211. The card will be headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between Hawaiian champ Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, and co-headlined by a middleweight scrap between former UFC champ Lyoto Machida and former Bellator champ Rafael Carvalho. Amazingly, this stacked card is not all that Bellator is offering the fans in Hawaii, who have been waiting years for major MMA show. The night before this card, in the very same Honolulu venue, the promotion will honor the military with a card titled ‘Salute the Troops,’ which will be free for members of the US armed forces and their friends and families.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 10, 2018

There are a plethora of intriguing bouts to make within the ONE Championship promotion, but sometimes it’s fun to think about what would happen if the best martial artists from ONE competed against some of the top competition from other organizations. Let’s look at five of the most intriguing fantasy matchups that we’d love to see.

Drake Riggs - October 8, 2018

Bellator 206 was one of the year’s biggest MMA events regardless of organization. And in its headliner, we saw a fight that we never expected to see. For Bellator, history was on the line as they put two champions against each other for the very first time. Moving up and looking to become the first Bellator dual-division champion was the longtime welterweight elite, Rory “Red King” MacDonald. Standing in his way was the Dutchman, Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi.

Mike Straus - October 1, 2018

Recently signed heavyweight fighter Tim Johnson plans on opening some eyes at Bellator 208 when he takes on Cheick Kongo in a feature main card bout. Johnson, 33, signed with the Viacom owned promotion after going a very respectable 4-3 inside the Octagon. He holds notable victories over Shamil Abdurakhimov, Marcin Tybura, and Daniel Omielańczuk while under the UFC’s banner. As impressive as those wins are, Johnson wanted more.

Tom Taylor - September 30, 2018

Bellator 206, which went down in San Jose, California on Saturday night, was among the biggest fight cards the company has ever promoted. As it turns out, this card featured some suitably hefty paydays as well. The biggest earner of the night was former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who pocketed a significant $300,000 for his second-round TKO of his rival Wanderlei Silva. Silva, meanwhile, was the second biggest earner of the night, pocketing $200,000 in defeat.