Bellator News

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2019

Last night, the New England Patriots defeated the LA Rams 13-3 to win the 2019 Super Bowl. While the game was an undeniably slow one, fans all over the world made sure to watch— and that includes some of the biggest names in MMA. Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor, as a matter of fact, was actually in attendance for the Super Bowl, taking in the action with his young son Conor Jr.

Tom Taylor - February 3, 2019

No celebrity is safe from Dillon Danis. Earlier this week, the Conor McGregor stablemate responded to some recent comments from Steven Seagal by challenging the 66-year-old actor to a fight in the Bellator MMA cage.

Tom Taylor - February 3, 2019

Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor by rear-naked choke in the main event of UFC 229 in October, he leapt over the side of the Octagon and dive bombed McGregor’s friend and training partner Dillon Danis. Ever since, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dillon Danis have had plenty to say about each other on social media.

Drake Riggs - February 1, 2019

The partnership between RIZIN and Bellator continues to be a fruitful one as RIZIN 15 will provide us with yet another cross-promotional title bout. The two promotions have already had fighters fight between each other in the past, but it wasn’t until RIZIN 14 when things got very interesting.

Tom Taylor - February 1, 2019

Earlier this week, actor and martial artist Steven Seagal told Submission Radio that he agreed with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s decision to leap over the cage and attack Dillon Danis after the UFC 229 main event. “I thought that Khabib outclassed Conor in every way,” Steven Seagal began, discussing Nurmagomedov’s defeat of Dillon Danis training partner Conor McGregor. “I thought even in the stand up with the punching, he out-punched Conor. I thought his ground game was better. I thought that he was just a better fighter all around and I thought that he just really, really dominated Conor in every way and he won the fight fair and square. Do I condemn him for what he did after the fight? No. Even as a diplomat I will say no. If you badmouth someone’s family, their wife, their children, their mother, their father, their country, their religion, all bets are off, and I would have done the same thing.”

Drake Riggs - January 31, 2019

Bellator 214 marked the promotion’s first event of the new year and boy did it deliver. A new champion was crowned, and new stars were potentially born. In the main event, the year-long Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix title tournament came to its conclusion as Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader fought for the vacant title.

James Lynch - January 31, 2019

“Mr. VanZant” Austin Vanderford finally has a date set for his Bellator debut. The 28-year-old is the husband of UFC flyweight Paige VanZant and will be making his promotional debut on Feb. 15 at Bellator 215. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was the first to break the news that “AK47” will be facing Cody Jones on the card.

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2019

Three-time UFC title challenger and current Bellator star Chael Sonnen has some interesting views on Jon Jones’ recent drug testing drama. Throughout this recent drama, Jones has maintained that he never knowingly ingested banned substances. Sonnen believes that’s only half true. In his eyes, Jon Jones has probably not intentionally ingested recently — but he certainly has previously.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2019

Shortly after Ryan Bader became a two-division Bellator champion with a first-round knockout of heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 214, he was called out by former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz. Speaking on Twitter, Ortiz announced his intention to fight Chael Sonnen in a ‘tune up fight,’ and then take the Bellator light heavyweight title from Bader.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

If you’ve been paying attention to Bellator over the last few months, you’ve probably noticed that Chris Pratt, the star of Hollywood blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, has become a regular fixture at their shows. At last weekend’s Bellator 214 show, however, Chris Pratt was more than just a member of the audience. He was in the building to support Adel Altamimi, who battled Brandon McMahan on the main card. In fact, as a friend and training partner of Altamimi, Pratt even served as one of the fighter’s cornermen.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

On New Years, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) crowned the winners of its first-ever season. The winners in each division were handed world title belts and million-dollar checks. Yet in the opinion of Jon Fitch, who held the welterweight title when the PFL was still called World Series of Fighting, those checks might never clear. “I think those guys who won the tournament are going to be thinking about, ‘What happened to my million?” Fitch said backstage at Bellator 214 (via MMAjunkie). “I don’t have any faith that those guys are going to get paid their full amount.”

Mike Straus - January 28, 2019

Bellator 214 is in the books and the first event of the year for the Viacom owned promotion definitely had some memorable moments. Whether you were tuning in to watch the conclusion of the World Heavyweight Grand Prix or if you were tuning in to watch one of the sport’s most promising prospects in Aaron Pico, Bellator 214 delivered.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Dillon Danis is one of the biggest trash talker in mixed martial arts. Much like his friend and training partner Conor McGregor, he’s made a habit of entering into verbal battles with pretty much anybody who’s willing to engage him. Late on Saturday night, however, the BJJ ace took a break from all the trash talking, and sent a message of respect to his rivals.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Ryan Bader now owns the Bellator light heavyweight heavyweight titles. He earned the former with a defeat of Phil Davis last year, and the latter with a Saturday night, Bellator 214 knockout of Fedor Emelianenko. With two belts now wrapped round his waist, Ryan Bader has the option of ruling over two divisions if he so chooses. Drifting back and forth between two weight classes, of course, will not be easy.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, in the main event of Bellator 214, Ryan Bader became Bellator’s first two-division champion by knocking out Fedor Emelianenko to capture the heavyweight strap. At present, it’s not known whether Bader will defend his heavyweight or light heavyweight belt first. Whatever the case, Chael Sonnen seems interested in being his first challenger. On Saturday night, shortly after Ryan Bader won the strap, Chael Sonnen called him out on Twitter — though he promptly deleted the Tweet.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, in the main event of Bellator 214, light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader became Bellator’s first two-division titleholder, knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in less than a minute to capture the Bellator heavyweight title. Heading into this fight, Ryan Bader says he drilled the very punch he used to topple Emelianenko many times. He knew there would be an opening when the Russian legend engaged, and practiced extensively to make sure he’d be ready for it.

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

Perennial featherweight contenders Henry Corrales and Aaron Pico squared off in the co-headliner of tonight’s Bellator 214 event in Los Angeles. Aaron Pico (4-2 MMA) entered tonight’s contest with Corrales on a four-fight win streak, with all four of those victories coming via first-round stoppages.

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

The Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Final went down this evening in Los Angeles, as Fedor Emelianenko squared off with Ryan Bader at Bellator 214. The former PRIDE FC champion, Fedor, was last seen in action this past October, where he scored a first-round TKO victory over Chael Sonnen.