Tag: Bellator News

Scott Coker Says Rory MacDonald’s Bellator Contract Is Not Expired

It appears that Rory MacDonald’s Bellator contract is not expired after all. It was believed that MacDonald’s welterweight title fight with Douglas Lima at Bellator 232 on Saturday was the last of his deal. MacDonald would lose the fight — and his title as a result — via unanimous decision as well and claimed afterward […]

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It appears that Rory MacDonald’s Bellator contract is not expired after all.

It was believed that MacDonald’s welterweight title fight with Douglas Lima at Bellator 232 on Saturday was the last of his deal. MacDonald would lose the fight — and his title as a result — via unanimous decision as well and claimed afterward that he would be open to a trilogy.

However, he would need to sort out his contract first.

“It’s very likely,” MacDonald said of a trilogy fight. “I mean we had two close fights. He won one, I won one. It’s kind of inevitable that we’ll probably fight again. … I wouldn’t say no. If they wanted to do it, they could do it.

“… First I’ve got to re-sign. My contract expired so we’ve got to deal with that situation but if they want to give me a title shot, sure.”

However, that’s not the case according to Bellator president Scott Coker who didn’t dive into much detail:

”Rory’s contract has not expired, and we have remaining rights,” Coker told MMA Fighting.

It is possible that like many contracts, MacDonald’s has a clause that allows Bellator to not only have the sole right to offer a new deal, but also match deals from other promoters once a typically 90-day period has passed.

Coker would certainly like to keep MacDonald but it ultimately depends on all parties:

”I think he’s a great fighter,” he added. “I think he’s probably the No. 2 welterweight in our roster, so yeah, we would love to. But we’ll see.”

Do you think MacDonald will stay at Bellator? Or do you think he will retire?

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Michael Chandler vs. Benson Henderson 2 Added To Bellator Japan

A rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson is set to take place at Bellator Japan. The bout was made official by Bellator recently and will serve as the co-main event of the promotion’s debut show in Japan which takes place December 28 at the Saitama Super Arena. It will be contested at a catchweight […]

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A rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson is set to take place at Bellator Japan.

The bout was made official by Bellator recently and will serve as the co-main event of the promotion’s debut show in Japan which takes place December 28 at the Saitama Super Arena. It will be contested at a catchweight of 160 pounds.

Chandler and Henderson first collided at Bellator 165 back in November 2016. The former came out on top on that occasion winning via split decision to retain his lightweight title at the time.

Since then, Chandler would lose his title twice, most recently earlier this year after getting knocked out by Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. In total, he has gone 3-2.

Henderson, meanwhile, would lose another split decision to Patricky Freire but is currently on a four-fight winning streak. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision win over the debuting Myles Jury at Bellator 227 last month.

Although this is a catchweight, the winner should be next in line to challenge Freire for the lightweight title.

Bellator Japan will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

What do you think of the fight?

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Bellator Welterweight Champ Douglas Lima Believes He’s Better Than UFC’s Kamaru Usman

Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima believes he would win in a potential cross-promotional fight with the UFC’s 170-pound king Kamaru Usman. Lima became a three-time welterweight champion after outpointing Rory MacDonald in the Bellator 232 headliner on Saturday. It made it 11 wins in the last 13 fights for “The Phenom” who cemented his place […]

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Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima believes he would win in a potential cross-promotional fight with the UFC’s 170-pound king Kamaru Usman.

Lima became a three-time welterweight champion after outpointing Rory MacDonald in the Bellator 232 headliner on Saturday. It made it 11 wins in the last 13 fights for “The Phenom” who cemented his place as one of the best 170-pounders on the planet.

Comparisons with Usman were natural but Lima believes he would emerge victorious, regardless of who the champion is.

“For sure, I think about it every time (fighting Kamaru Usman or Tyron Woodley). Especially after a win like this,” Lima told TMZ (via BJ Penn). “I know real MMA fans, they recognize, they know I’m up there with those guys.

“They know I can beat, I can fight any of them. But, most of them it’s like, ‘Man, you’re not in the UFC, you’re a nobody.’”

Lima is not a fan of people looking down on fighters just because they’re not competing in the UFC. It’s one of the reasons why he’s hoping for a cross-promotional event in the future:

“Man, I hate that,” he added. “That’s people who don’t understand the sport. It’s not the name UFC or Bellator or ONE FC. There’s killers everywhere. Now Scott Coker is doing co-promotions with Rizin. I would love if we do that with the UFC.”

As for the matchup with Usman, Lima acknowledges that “The Nigerian Nightmare” has high-level wrestling that has served him well in keeping him undefeated in the UFC. However, Lima also believes it wouldn’t matter if he were to connect on him:

“Of course I would do great, I’d beat him,” Lima said. “I’d probably KO him. He’s a great wrestler for sure, he wrestles a lot. But man, at any point in that fight if I connect, I can put him away. I don’t even think about that, I just know I can beat him, I can beat anybody at this weight class.

“I’m not talking bad about the guy. He’s a champion there. He’s doing his thing. But, I just know it, man. If one day something like this happens, I definitely believe in myself to go over there and kill it.”

Do you agree with Lima?

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Scott Coker Discusses Bellator Possibly Heading To CBS

After CBS bought Viacom many thought Bellator, who is owned by Viacom would be put on CBS. Currently, they have broadcast rights with Paramount Network and DAZN. Yet, Scott Coker isn’t sure Bellator events will be broadcast on CBS in the future. He plays it down until a deal is done. Which he says hopefully […]

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After CBS bought Viacom many thought Bellator, who is owned by Viacom would be put on CBS. Currently, they have broadcast rights with Paramount Network and DAZN.

Yet, Scott Coker isn’t sure Bellator events will be broadcast on CBS in the future. He plays it down until a deal is done. Which he says hopefully will happen by the end of the year.

“It’s great to see Bob (Bakish) in the building,” Coker said (via MMA Junkie). “Bob is our CEO of Viacom-CBS, and it’s a very important role, and takes care of a very big company. For him to come out and watch the fights, he really had a great time and enjoyed himself.

“As far as integration of how long and when and where (and) what the possibilities are, that’s all premature. Until this thing is closed, it’s basically business as usual. They’re probably going to wrap it up, as far as I can understand, in December or sometime in January. And then we can start having conversations with our partners – or our brothers at that point – and see where we can maybe increase the position here of this brand.”

Currently, DAZN seems like the best fight for Bellator as it is known for having combat sports. Paramount Network has always seemed like an odd fight given Bellator is the only sport on the channel, not even lone combat sports.

CBS should attract more viewers which would be huge for Bellator as they try to become the number one promotion in the world.

Would you want to see Bellator on CBS?

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Scott Coker: Lorenz Larkin ‘Probably’ Next For Douglas Lima

New Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima’s first title defense looks set to be against Lorenz Larkin. Lima regained the welterweight title after outpointing Rory MacDonald in the main event of Bellator 232 last night. As a result, he became a three-time champion and also won the million dollar prize from the welterweight grand prix. And […]

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New Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima’s first title defense looks set to be against Lorenz Larkin.

Lima regained the welterweight title after outpointing Rory MacDonald in the main event of Bellator 232 last night. As a result, he became a three-time champion and also won the million dollar prize from the welterweight grand prix.

And despite what would seem to be the ideal choice in making a trilogy fight between Lima and MacDonald, Bellator president Scott Coker believes Larkin will be next in line:

“We’re going to be taking Larkin to Japan to fight on the 29th on our show,” Coker said in the Bellator 232 post-fight press conference (via BJ Penn). “They’re still working out the opponent but he will be fighting and representing Bellator against Rizin. So he’ll be busy there.

“I think Douglas Lima would probably like to take a couple of months off and then we’ll figure it out. But I think Larkin, unless he loses in Japan, he’s probably the No. 1 guy in that slot.”

Larkin faced Lima for the welterweight title back in 2017 but would lose a unanimous decision. Since then, “The Monsoon” would go 3-1 with his most recent victory coming against former champion Andrey Koreshkov earlier this month.

Provided he wins his next outing, he looks set to get another chance at defeating Lima and becoming a world champion.

Do you think Larkin should get the next shot at Lima?

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Rory MacDonald Says Trilogy Fight With Douglas Lima Is ‘Inevitable’

Rory MacDonald feels a trilogy fight with Douglas Lima is only inevitable. Lima regained the Bellator welterweight title after outpointing MacDonald over five rounds in their Bellator 232 rematch last night. As a result, he also won the Bellator welterweight grand prix. While Lima performed much better compared to their first outing, the rematch wasn’t […]

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Rory MacDonald feels a trilogy fight with Douglas Lima is only inevitable.

Lima regained the Bellator welterweight title after outpointing MacDonald over five rounds in their Bellator 232 rematch last night. As a result, he also won the Bellator welterweight grand prix.

While Lima performed much better compared to their first outing, the rematch wasn’t as action-packed or exciting as their first title fight. MacDonald, in particular, could have shown more urgency and he believes that was a factor.

“I had good moments. It was close every, single round,” MacDonald explained post-fight (via MMA Fighting). “What I feel I should have done is put the gas on a little more. I felt like when I had good moments, I backed off, let him recover and I just gave too much leeway instead of having that gas pedal on a little earlier. I felt comfortable with where I was in the fight. I felt confident, maybe more confident than I should have been in the scoring.

“The rounds just got away from me. Every round was tight though. I’m not too down about it. Just obviously wish I could have done a little more during the fight.”

With the score now tied at one win apiece, it’s only fitting for the two to have a third fight. And MacDonald believes it’s “very likely”:

“It’s very likely,” MacDonald said. “I mean we had two close fights. He won one, I won one. It’s kind of inevitable that we’ll probably fight again. … I wouldn’t say no. If they wanted to do it, they could do it.”

However, MacDonald needs to sign a new deal first. His fight last night was the last of his Bellator contract. However, the Canadian seems confident he will remain with Bellator:

“First I’ve got to re-sign,” he added. “My contract expired so we’ve got to deal with that situation but if they want to give me a title shot, sure.”

Do you want to see a trilogy?

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