Tag: Bellator News

Welterweight Title Fight Headed To Bellator 220

Bellator MMA will stage a welterweight title fight in the promotion’s return to New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 14. The most unique feature of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix is that the champion, Rory MacDonald, will find himself defending his title throughout the tournament. He will defend his 170-pound strap against Jon Fitch in […]

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Bellator MMA will stage a welterweight title fight in the promotion’s return to New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 14.

The most unique feature of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix is that the champion, Rory MacDonald, will find himself defending his title throughout the tournament.

He will defend his 170-pound strap against Jon Fitch in a quarterfinal matchup at Bellator 220 on April 27.

The winner of that contest will have a semifinal date with Nieman Gracie at Bellator 222 on June 14. (ESPN first reported).

Gracie is a BJJ specialist who earned his bid in the semifinal round by defeating Ed Ruth via fourth-round submission. The other semifinal bout is Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page. They are scheduled to fight in Chicago on May 11.

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Chael Sonnen vs. Lyoto Machida Set For MSG Card In June

“The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen will take on Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in a light heavyweight bout at MSG in June, according to sources. The news comes via ESPN who first reported in February that the two fighters had verbally agreed to fight at some point later this year. Sonnen, 42, most recently competed in […]

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“The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen will take on Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in a light heavyweight bout at MSG in June, according to sources.

The news comes via ESPN who first reported in February that the two fighters had verbally agreed to fight at some point later this year.

Sonnen, 42, most recently competed in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix in October where he lost in the Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals.

As for the 40-year-old Machida, he had a successful promotional debut back at Bellator 213 in December of last year. The former UFC light heavyweight champion defeated Rafael Carvalho via split decision in that night.

This will mark the second occasion the Viacom-owned promotion has staged an event at the sports mecca that is MSG. The promotion’s first event at MSG was back in June of 2017. Sonnen fought on that night as well. He defeated Wanderlei Silva in the main event.

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Scott Coker Officially Announces Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix

After months of speculation, Bellator President Scott Coker has officially announced the promotion’s upcoming featherweight Grand Prix tournament. The announcement came earlier today (Tues. April 2, 2019) at the Bellator London press conference. Coker revealed that the tournament is expected to get underway around October. 16 of Bellator’s finest 145-pound competitors will be competing in […]

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After months of speculation, Bellator President Scott Coker has officially announced the promotion’s upcoming featherweight Grand Prix tournament.

The announcement came earlier today (Tues. April 2, 2019) at the Bellator London press conference. Coker revealed that the tournament is expected to get underway around October. 16 of Bellator’s finest 145-pound competitors will be competing in the Grand Prix. The first full round of the tournament, which will be eight fights, will all take place on a single card.

As of this writing, it is unknown if featherweight champion Patricio Freire will take part in the action. He is preparing to challenge for lightweight champion Michael Chandler’s title soon. Pending the result of that contest, Freire’s plans should become much more clear.

Bellator has been very active with tournaments lately. Ryan Bader was crowned the promotion’s new heavyweight champion after winning the Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament by making quick work of the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in the finals in January.

Also, the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix Tournament, featuring the promotion’s 170-pound champion Rory MacDonald, is currently underway.

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Josh Barnett Signs With Bellator MMA

One of the heavyweight division’s most polarizing figures is headed to Bellator MMA, as Josh Barnett announced he will sign with the promotion. ‘The Warmaster’ literally signed his contract during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show’ (via Chamatkar Sandhu): The former UFC champion Barnett recently ran afoul of USADA. While he does have a […]

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One of the heavyweight division’s most polarizing figures is headed to Bellator MMA, as Josh Barnett announced he will sign with the promotion.

‘The Warmaster’ literally signed his contract during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show’ (via Chamatkar Sandhu):

The former UFC champion Barnett recently ran afoul of USADA. While he does have a history of PED usage, he spent time and money fighting the violation.

He was ultimately exonerated but asked the UFC for his release to avoid dealing with USADA. Barnett did not want to face another similar situation as his career winds down.

But that’s not the only reason he signed with Bellator. He and Bellator President Scott Coker have a history from their days in Strikeforce. He also said the ability to be an individual played into his decision:

Coker promptly welcomed Barnett to the promotion, clarifying it was not an April Fools joke:

So Barnett will wind down his career in the Bellator cage. There some potentially solid match-ups waiting for him there.

Who would you like to see him fight in his promotional debut?

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Bellator 219 Star Hits Steve Austin’s Stunner Finisher After Fight

Bellator 219 star David Rickels is known to dress up as a caveman for the entrances of his fights. Well, in his most recent fight, he dressed up as WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for his entrance. The MMA Veteran took A.J. Matthews on the undercard portion of the event that saw […]

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Bellator 219 star David Rickels is known to dress up as a caveman for the entrances of his fights. Well, in his most recent fight, he dressed up as WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for his entrance.

The MMA Veteran took A.J. Matthews on the undercard portion of the event that saw Rickels win by second-round TKO. After the fight, he hit Austin’s finisher, the Stone Cold Stunner.

Bellator 219 took place on March 29, 2019, at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. Saad Awad vs. Brandon Girtz in a lightweight bout headlined this show. Here are the results:

Main Card (Paramount at 9 p.m. ET)

Brandon Girtz def. Saad Awad by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

Daniel Straus def. Shane Kruchten by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:53 of round one.

Andrey Koreshkov def. Mike Jasper by unanimous decision (30-27 x3).

Joe Schilling def. Keith Berry by unanimous decision (30-26 x3).

Under Card (Online at 8 p.m. ET)

Joey Davis def. Marcus Anthony by KO at 4:21 of round one.

Dalton Rosta def. Cody Vidal by TKO at 1:06 of round one.

Shawn Bunch def. Dominic Mazzotta by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

David Rickels def. A.J. Matthews by TKO at 3:24 or round two.

Janay Harding def. Marina Mokhnatkina via unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 29-27)

Darren Smith Jr. def. Joshua Jones via first-round KO (0:34)

John Mercurio def. Johnny Cisneros via majority decision (28-28, 29-28 x2)

Rickey Furar def. Roman Puga via second-round TKO (doctor stoppage)

David Pacheco vs. Kelvin Gentapanan

Sunni Imhotep def. Eugene Correa via first-round KO (0:44)

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Bellator 219 Highlights: Daniel Straus Taps Shane Kruchten In Comeback Fight

The Bellator cage touched down in the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California for Bellator 219. Lets take a look at some of the action. Former Bellator two-time featherweight champion Daniel Straus made his return to the cage after his well-documented motorcycle accident and subsequent rehab. He only needed 3:53 to find a home […]

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The Bellator cage touched down in the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California for Bellator 219.

Lets take a look at some of the action.

Former Bellator two-time featherweight champion Daniel Straus made his return to the cage after his well-documented motorcycle accident and subsequent rehab. He only needed 3:53 to find a home for a left hand that sent Shane Kruchten to the canvas. Straus would jump on his back and lock in a choke for the tap.

Straus is back, take a look below. (via Twitter)

The win completes an arduous comeback for Straus who was emotional in his post-fight interview with Big John. Straus will look to move back down to featherweight going forward.

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