Bellator News

Cole Shelton - September 24, 2019

Lyoto Machida has planned out the rest of 2019 and the beginnings of 2020. In the co-main event of Bellator 228, the former UFC light heavyweight champion Machida is taking on Gegard Mousasi. This middleweight fight is a rematch of their 2014 fight, which Machida won by decision.

Natasha Hooper - September 23, 2019

Dillon Danis’ new beef extends outside the MMA sphere, as he’s been trading barbs with Youtuber Jake Paul. On September the 10th, Danis called out the Youtube brothers Jake Paul and Logan Paul on Twitter. He commented, “F**k the Pauls.”

Thomas Taylor - September 22, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos thinks reigning UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones is the best fighter in the world today. In fact, dos Santos believes Jones would do very well if he made the move up to the heavyweight division. “Jon Jones is the No. 1 baddest guy on the planet… actually, he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound in the world, so I think he could do very well in the heavyweight division,” dos Santos told MMA Fighting.

Tom Taylor - September 18, 2019

Ben Askren and Dillon Danis are separated by promotional bounds, as they’re currently signed with the UFC and Bellator respectively. Nonetheless, the pair of grappling specialists have taken every opportunity to swap trash talk on Twitter. From the sounds of it, they could soon settle their differences on the mats.

Natasha Hooper - September 17, 2019

Bellator President Scott Coker isn’t impressed with the way the UFC handled the career of Cris Cyborg. Cyborg, the former Strikeforce, Invicta and UFC featherweight champion, joined Bellator MMA earlier this month. Prior to her move to Bellator, Cris Cyborg competed in the UFC, and got off to a good start with stoppage wins over Leslie Smith, Lina Lansberg and Tonya Evinger, the latter of whom she defeated to win the vacant featherweight title.

Cole Shelton - September 16, 2019

Cheick Kongo was fighting for the heavyweight title against Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 226. It was a chance for the 44-year-old Frenchman to win a major MMA title, something that has eluded him thus far in his career. Unfortunately for Kongo and his team, things didn’t go as planned. Instead, the fight was ruled a no-contest after an accidental eye poke from Bader. The champion has since gone on social media posting videos saying there was no eye poke. Kongo, however, says he was poked in the eye, and the nose.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2019

Bellator flyweight champion Ilima Lei-MacFarlane is featured in the official music video for the new song Don’t Call Me Angel by pop stars Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey. In the video for this song, which will serve as the lead single on the soundtrack for the new Charlie’s Angels movie, MacFarlane can be seen walloping Cyrus with a wrecking ball of a right hand.

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2019

Cris Cyborg officially signed with Bellator two weeks ago. The former UFC featherweight champion was released from the Las Vegas-based promotion after her UFC 240 bout — partly due to her crumbling relationship with UFC President Dana White. Cris Cyborg talked to many promotions when her free agency began, but she always knew she would land with Bellator.

Cole Shelton - September 11, 2019

Khabib Nurmagomedov is 28-0 and has only lost one round in his entire MMA career. Yet, Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion, Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire believes he can be the one to hand the Russian his first loss. Although they are in two different promotions, Freire hopes he can get the chance as he knows he wouldn’t just beat Nurmagomedov, but knock him out.

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2019

On Saturday night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 226. This stacked card was topped by a heavyweight title fight between reigning champ Ryan Bader and Bellator staple Cheick Kongo. Elsewhere on the card, we witnessed four of the quarterfinal bout for Bellator’s 16-man Featherweight World Grand Prix, in addition to a number of other exciting matchups.

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2019

Cris Cyborg is happy to have parted ways with the UFC and inked a new deal with Bellator MMA. In fact, she says her new deal with Bellator includes a number of important benefits that she was not able to enjoy while fighting for the UFC. Most notably, Cyborg is no longer obligated to wear Reebok as part of the UFC’s athlete outfitting deal. She’s free to pursue her own sponsorship opportunities.

Adam Martin - September 9, 2019

Bellator and RIZIN are eyeing a year-end show in Japan featuring some of the best fighters from both promotions. Reports indicate Bellator president Scott Coker and RIZIN bossman Nobuyuki Sakakibara are in talks for a main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, as well as a light heavyweight co-main event between Ryan Bader and Jiri Prochazka. Veteran MMA scribe Josh Gross of The Athletic shared the news via Twitter that Bellator and RIZIN hope to have a card December 29 in Japan, and they hope to bill it as Emelianenko’s final fight in Japan.

Tom Taylor - September 9, 2019

Mixed martial arts is a nasty business. Fighters routinely sustain nasty injuries in their bouts, from cuts, to hematomas, and of course, broken bones. That latter thing is just what we saw on the postlims of Bellator 226 last weekend, when Albert Gonzales took on Tyson Miller. It was a sequence not unlike the final moment of the infamous Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman 2 fight, which left Silva with a leg like cooked spaghetti after Weidman checked one of his kicks. This time around, it was Gonzales who threw the kick, and was ultimately left writhing on the floor after Miller checked it.

Cole Shelton - September 8, 2019

Ryan Bader was looking for the first title defense of his heavyweight belt when he took on Cheick Kongo in the main event of Bellator 226. Yet, he did not get to defend his title but did not lose it either. Instead, the fight was ruled a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke from Bader. Now, after the fight, ‘Darth’ believes Kongo used the eye poke as the reason to get out of the scrap.

Adam D Martin - September 8, 2019

Cheick Kongo’s teammate Quinton “Rampage” Jackson posted a picture of his teammate’s injured eye following a disappointing conclusion to Bellator 226. Kongo’s fight against Ryan Bader ended with a No Contest in the first round after Bader was deemed to have accidentally poked his opponent in the eye, which led to the doctor stopping the fight. Some fans and media were critical of the end to the fight, believing it may have been a punch and not a poke that injured Kongo’s eye.

Adam D Martin - September 8, 2019

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson took to social media to criticize Ryan Bader for the way his fight ended against Cheick Kongo at Bellator 226. The fight ended in the first round after Bader accidentally poked Kongo in the eye, which led to the doctor stopping the fight. It was declared a No Contest due to an accidental foul.

Chris Taylor - September 7, 2019

Ryan Bader put his heavyweight title on the line against Cheick Kongo in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 226 event in San Jose. Bader (27-5 MMA) had captured the promotions vacant heavyweight title this past January at Bellator 214, defeating MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko by first round knockout.

Chris Taylor - September 7, 2019

Ryan Bader puts his heavyweight title on the line against Cheick Kongo in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 226 event in San Jose. Bader (27-5 MMA) captured the promotions vacant heavyweight title this past January at Bellator 214, defeating MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko by first round knockout.