Bellator News

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2016

Michael “Venom” Page – also known simply as “MVP” – has long stood out as one of Bellator’s most exciting young stars. Look no further than his recent, skull-smashing knockout of Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos for the reasons behind this reputation. When Page stepped onto the canvas with Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 165 in San Jose, California, however, his reputation for excitement was dealt a pretty severe blow. In a performance that was reminiscent of Anderson Silva’s lackluster defeats of Thales Leites and Demian Maia, Page showboated, danced and generally failed to engage over the course of the three-round fight. Though he clearly possessed the ability to out-strike his foe, his refusal to put the pedal to the medal resulted in a fight that was fairly difficult to score – as evidenced by the judges’ split verdict.

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2016

On Saturday night, Bellator MMA returned to the SAP Center in San Jose, California with Bellator 165. In the card’s main event, reigning Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler attempted to defend his title against former WEC and UFC lightweight titleholder Benson Henderson. Though Chandler would ultimately succeed on this mission, Henderson did not make it easy for him.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2016

On December 17, when the UFC returns to Sacramento, California, rising welterweight Bryan Barberena will take on highly regarded prospect Colby Covington. If he defeats Covington, he’ll extend his win-streak to three, having taken out Sage Northcutt and Warlley Alves in his last two bouts. Despite the big stakes of this upcoming bout, Barberena recently took time out of his busy schedule for an interview with BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor.

bjpenndotcom - November 5, 2016

Can't open up a show much better!! @Eyecandyayala 👁🍭 #Bellator163 pic.twitter.com/RH6trEpQyd — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 5, 2016

bjpenndotcom - October 8, 2016

Former middleweight champion Brandon Halsey and former light heavyweight champ Emanuel Newton have left the Bellator building, so to speak. The news of Newton and Halsey’s release from the promotion was confirmed by Jason Floyd of The MMA  Report, making them the third former champ to jump ship this year alone.

bjpenndotcom - August 30, 2016

Bellator lightweight Benson Henderson made $75k in a winning effort over Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire on Friday in his second fight with the Spike-based promotion since leaving the UFC. But disclosed salary records show ‘Smooth’ made $117k in his final UFC fight in a split-decision victory over Jorge Masvidal in 2015.

Russell Ess - August 26, 2016

https://youtu.be/3E7GMkmFKBI Chinzo Machida, the brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, scored a brutal first-round knockout victory over Mario Navarro in his Bellator debut this evening.

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

While the UFC undoubtably is the largest MMA promotion in the United States, if not the world, Bellator MMA has continued to grow in popularity among MMA fans. The promotion recently just held its Bellator 158 event in London, and is already preparing to hold their Bellator 159 event this Friday. On the heels of the UFC being sold for $4 billion after the biggest event in UFC history, UFC co-founder Campbell McLaren questions why Bellator even exists.

bjpenndotcom - June 25, 2016

https://youtu.be/_ryAaIZ1zYM Friday night in St Louis, Missouri, Rampage Jackson and Satoshi Ishii squared off in the main event of Bellator 157.

bjpenndotcom - June 24, 2016

Joe Schilling getting KTFO #DYNAMITE2 #Bellator157 pic.twitter.com/CP0hSgfE4r — Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) June 25, 2016

bjpenndotcom - June 16, 2016

Surprising news surfaced last month that Bellator MMA lightweight champion Will Brooks had been released by the promotion, and would become a free agent in the MMA market. This week Brooks revealed that he and the UFC had reached an agreement, and that he had signed with the UFC. In addition, it was revealed that Brooks would be making his UFC debut at the TUF 23 finale on July 8th against Ross Pearson.

bjpenndotcom - June 7, 2016

Tragic news surfaced Tuesday night that Kimbo Slice had passed away at the age of 42 due to what was later revealed to be heart failure. At the time of his death, Slice was preparing for his Bellator 158 scrap with James Thompson on July 16th at London’s famous ‘O2 Arena’. Following Slice’s death there was much speculation as to what would happen with the scheduled event given Slice’s untimely death, and main event slot.

Chris Taylor - May 14, 2016

Phil Davis earned himself a title shot at tonight’s Bellator 154 event in San Jose by scoring a unanimous decision victory over Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in the evening’s main event. “Mr. Wonderful” was able to smother “King Mo” for the majority of the fight, almost submitting Lawal in the bout’s third-round.

Chris Taylor - May 1, 2016

Terrible news out of the MMA world today as it is being reported that Jordan Parsons, a Bellator MMA fighter, has had to have his leg amputated after being involved in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident early this morning. The featherweight fighter is listed as being in critical condition at this time.

bjpenndotcom - April 30, 2016

Earlier this month, former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson made his Bellator MMA debut at Bellator 153, as he fought Andrey Koreshkov for the welterweight championship. The fight was a rough one for Henderson, who ultimately lost the bout via unanimous decision, getting beaten up pretty badly in the process. There was a silver lining for the promotion however in regards to viewership.

bjpenndotcom - March 11, 2016

Back in February Bellator headed to Houston Texas for Bellator 149. The event was an interesting one to say the least. In the co-main event Kimbo Slice and Dada 5000 squared off in a highly anticipated grudge match, while in the main event Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie had their trilogy fight nearly 25 years after the pair first met in the Octagon.

bjpenndotcom - February 26, 2016

In the co-main event of Bellator 149, Dada 5000 and Kimbo Slice fought for nearly 3 full rounds. The pair were both exhausted from the first round, which forced referee ‘Big’ John McCarhy to even stand the pair up when Kimbo had Dada 5000 in mount at one point.

bjpenndotcom - February 25, 2016

MMA is without a doubt an unforgiving sport Unfortunately, fighters who give everything they have to the sport aren’t always able to dedicate their time 100% to training, and ultimately are then unable to retire after their careers are over.