Tag: Bellator News

Dillon Danis claims Bellator CEO Scott Coker is keeping him on the shelf: ‘I’ve offered to fight on every card’

Dillon DanisDillon Danis called out Scott Coker on social media, suggesting the Bellator CEO is the reason why he has been sitting on the sidelines for nearly four years. Danis’ run under the Bellator banner started off promising with the BJJ specialist securing back-to-back wins against Kyle Walker and Max Humphry. After two-straight first-round submissions, MMA […]

Dillon Danis

Dillon Danis called out Scott Coker on social media, suggesting the Bellator CEO is the reason why he has been sitting on the sidelines for nearly four years.

Danis’ run under the Bellator banner started off promising with the BJJ specialist securing back-to-back wins against Kyle Walker and Max Humphry. After two-straight first-round submissions, MMA fans were curious to see just how far Dannis could go. Four years later, some fans are still waiting while others have moved on.

Dillon Danis’ last appearance in the cage came at Bellator 222 back in June 2019, but according to the New Jersey native, his lack of competition is the fault of Scott Coker. At least, that’s what Danis is claiming in his latest Twitter post.

“this shit is wack @ScottCoker i’ve offered to fight every card since 2 years ago got texts to back it up,” Danis tweeted.

Since his last walk to the Bellator cage, Dillon Danis has only been booked for two fights. The first was expected to be his third appearance for the promotion at Bellator 238: Budd vs. Cyborg. Danis withdrew from the contest due to an injury. Fast forward to 2023, he was scheduled for a boxing match against social media star KSI at Misfits & DAZN: X Series 004 in January. Danis again pulled out of the bout just weeks prior.

Scott Coker is yet to comment on Danis’ accusation, but the Bellator CEO issued somewhat of an ultimatum to the part-time fighter full-time trash-talker during a Bellator 290 media event in February.

“I talked to his management the other day and I keep asking, ‘What do you guys really want to do?’” Coker said of Danis. “I mean, really, it’s up to you guys. We can’t make you come fight, but we also have to have realistic expectations…

“Look, we are a fight company. You wanna fight, come fight. It’s that simple to me. You already have a contract in place, let’s pick a date, pick an opponent and let’s go. Or let’s move on.”

Twitter Users Aren’t Buying Dillon Danis’ Latest Claim

MMA Twitter was quick to call bullsh*t on Dillon Danis’ claim, some even coming from former fans that grew tired of Danis’ incessant trolling on social media, throwing out unrealistic challenges to fighters that would never give him the time of day for money he doesn’t have.

Johnny Eblen boasts ability to defeat UFC champion Israel Adesanya: ‘I think I destroy him, it’s a bad matchup’

Johnny Eblen touts ability to defeat Israel Adesanya I think I destroy him UFC Bellator MMABellator MMA middleweight champion, Johnny Eblen has been touted as arguably the best fighter at the weight class on the planet amid his roughshod run through the ranks under the scrutiny of Scott Coker, and now the American Top Team staple has claimed he would “destroy” his UFC champion counterpart, Israel Adesanya.  Boasting an undefeated […]

Johnny Eblen touts ability to defeat Israel Adesanya I think I destroy him UFC Bellator MMA

Bellator MMA middleweight champion, Johnny Eblen has been touted as arguably the best fighter at the weight class on the planet amid his roughshod run through the ranks under the scrutiny of Scott Coker, and now the American Top Team staple has claimed he would “destroy” his UFC champion counterpart, Israel Adesanya. 

Boasting an undefeated 13-0 professional record, Eblen managed to clinch the undisputed middleweight champion from former UFC top-contender, Gegard Mousasi back in June of last year in the main event of Bellator 282, landing a one-sided unanimous decision victory.

Successfully defending the crown in the main event of Bellator 290 back in February in Inglewood, California, Eblen landed another shutout decision success, this time against Anatoly Tokov.

Johnny Eblen believes he matches up perfectly with UFC kingpin, Israel Adesanya

And with one eye firmly placed on this weekend’s middleweight clash between the aforenoted, Mousasi and Fabian Edwards – the younger brother of current undisputed UFC welterweight champion, Leon Edwards, Johnny Eblen claimed if he was pitted with City Kickboxing staple, Adesanya, he would comfortably “destroy” the Nigerian-Kiwi.

“I think I destroy ‘Stylebender’ (Israel Adesanya),” Johnny Eblen told Peter Carroll during a recent episode of The Craic. “It’s just a bad matchup for him, I just mix things up too well. I wrestle, strike and he really exposed himself when he fought (Alex) Pereira, how bad his grappling was. So, I just think I’m a terrible matchup for him.” (Transcribed by MMA News)

For Adesanya, the Eugene Bareman product managed to reclaim the middleweight crown at UFC 287 back in April against four-time combat sports rival, Alex Pereira, stopping the Brazilian with a devastating second round KO in their Miami, Florida main event.

Yet to be booked for his impending Octagon return, UFC president, Dana White has earmarked Adesanya for a Sydney, Australia headlining return for the promotion before the end of this year, in a pay-per-view main event against either former champion, Robert Whittaker in a trilogy bout, or emerging South African challenger, Dricus du Plessis. 

Bellator MMA welterweight Dillon Danis targeting return to grappling after 4 year layoff through injury

Dillon Danis targeting grappling return this year with Polaris Bellator MMAFormer Bellator welterweight Dillon Danis is set to make his grappling competitive, ending a four year absence. Since Danis joined the training camp of Conor McGregor, ultimately becoming involved in the infamous post-fight brawl between McGregor and Nurmagomedov, the American has held an odd place in the combat sports space. following an accomplished Brazilian ji […]

Dillon Danis targeting grappling return this year with Polaris Bellator MMA

Former Bellator welterweight Dillon Danis is set to make his grappling competitive, ending a four year absence.

Since Danis joined the training camp of Conor McGregor, ultimately becoming involved in the infamous post-fight brawl between McGregor and Nurmagomedov, the American has held an odd place in the combat sports space.

following an accomplished Brazilian ji jitsu career, Danis turned to professional MMA, racking up just two fights (two wins) since turning professional under the Bellator banner back in 2018. However, even with underwhelming performances, Danis has somehow kept his name relevant.

Danis’ unrelenting social media campaign has kept his name in the headlines, and even contributed to him signing a bout to fight YouTuber turned ‘boxer’ KSI. However, even after throwing coffee in the social media stars face and taunting him, Danis would pull out of the fight with KSI.

Dillon Danis is returning to grappling

While Danis is most well known for is out-of-competition antics, the 29-year-old is an accomplished athlete in his own right. A black belt under Marcelo Garcia, ‘El Jefe’ won several prestigious competitions at brown belt, including the IBJJF World Champions in Gi and No-Gi – as well as Abu Dhabi World Pro and an IBJJF Pan championship.

Danis was tipped for much success at blackbelt, but would never achieve what he did a grade bellow. However, Danis did compete at the ADCC World Championships and took on the likes of Gordon Ryan, Jake Shields and AJ Agazarm.

Via their Instagram, Polaris Grappling teased Danis’ return to grappling, saying that he was planning to make his comeback later this year

‘[Dillon Danis] is aiming to make his highly anticipated return to grappling in 2023 with Polaris.

‘Who would you like to see Dillon face?’

Who would you like to see Dillon Danis make his return against?

UFC alum Benson Henderson admits to fighting with toothpick in mouth, reveals he swallowed it accidentally

Benson Henderson, UFC, BellatorRetired MMA star Benson Henderson revealed that he fought with a toothpick in his mouth during a number of his fights.  In an interview with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour last month, Henderson shared how he managed to fight with a toothpick inside the octagon. “For a lot of fights, I had the toothpick, […]

Benson Henderson, UFC, Bellator

Retired MMA star Benson Henderson revealed that he fought with a toothpick in his mouth during a number of his fights. 

In an interview with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour last month, Henderson shared how he managed to fight with a toothpick inside the octagon.

“For a lot of fights, I had the toothpick, yeah,” Henderson said. “For a lot of fights. It was just a bad habit. I would literally, like, go out to lunch or dinner or breakfast, whatever — you know, you have the toothpicks from the restaurant. I would just forget I have it in, I would practice, I would do whatever. I’d leave it in for fights.”

Henderson revealed his toothpick habit led to an accidental injury.

“I’d graduated college, and then I went home to surprise my mom,” Henderson said. “I surprised her when she was coming down the stairs, and I had a toothpick in like I always do, and I was a little bit older. I was mature enough to realize how dumb that was, how not smart that was, how crazy that was. But I scared her — and I swallowed my toothpick. (h/t MMA Fighting)

Benson Henderson Retired at Bellator 292

Henderson, a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion, announced his retirement from MMA at Bellator 292, where he failed to capture the 155-pound title from Usman Nurmagomedov. 

“I told myself if I lose any of [my] last four fights then it’s about that time,” Henderson said post-fight at Bellator 292. “I’ve had a nice long run, I’ve done a lot of great things [and] was able to do a lot of amazing accomplishments.”

During his career, Henderson (30-12) fought multiple MMA stars, including Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, Frankie Edgar, Michael Chandler and Donald Cerrone, to name a very select few. The Colorado Springs, Colorado native defended the WEC and UFC lightweight titles once and three times, respectively. 

After a five-year stint with the UFC, Henderson signed with Bellator MMA in February 2016 and went 7-7 in 14 fights. The former title challenger competed for Bellator gold three times against Nurmagomedov, Chandler and Andrey Koreshkov. 

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt was ESPN’s 2012 MMA Fighter of The Year. He earned three UFC Fight of The Night bonuses.

Chael Sonnen discusses head trauma suffered against Fedor Emelianenko: ‘I got hit with a missile five seconds into my fight’

Chael Sonnen brain trauma Fedor Emelianenko I was hit with a missile UFCFormer UFC title contender Chael Sonnen speaks on the reality of head trauma and the punishment he took in his career. The issue of fighter safety and more specifically the brain trauma that they are subject to, still looms large over the sport, just as it does in every contact sport. For every dramatic moment […]

Chael Sonnen brain trauma Fedor Emelianenko I was hit with a missile UFC

Former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen speaks on the reality of head trauma and the punishment he took in his career.

The issue of fighter safety and more specifically the brain trauma that they are subject to, still looms large over the sport, just as it does in every contact sport. For every dramatic moment and stunning knockout, there are equally just as scary examples of what this violence does.

 Talking on True Geordie’s podcast, Sonnen discussed the issue of CTE and head trauma, an issue that he had not considered up until recently.

“I do, yes [think about head trauma] and I didn’t use to”, Chael Sonnen said. “Somebody I looked up to, could have even been my father said that’s a guy looking for an excuse, having a concussion and thing likes this then that movie came out called concussion with will smith it was based on a true story and impacted me and it made me start thinking in that direction, I did see several fighter – a lot of boxers that were slowing down and having a hard time.

“So, you start to see this a real thing, guys in the NFL some even led to suicide they were talking about the pains and the depression they were having from CTE”, said Sonnen. I’m very aware of it, I don’t believe that I took some of those shots but I appreciate that it’s a very real thing and coaches are monitoring it, hat doctors now know what to look for. For the longest time we didn’t even know what to look for, I was in college wrestling and you head butted and you were seeing stars as they say, get back in there shake it off.”

Chael Sonnen talks Fedor Emelianenko ‘missile’

Chael Sonnen has had close to 50 professional MMA fights and has taken on some of the most dangerous men that middleweight to heavyweight had to offer over his career. It’s no surprise then that Sonnen has taken a big shot, or two, over his career. However the 45-year-old recalls one delivered from Fedor Emelianenko that shook him to his boots.

“I got hit with a missile five seconds into my fight with Fedor, I mean this thing was a missile, I would have quit that fight right there”, described Chael Sonnen. “As I was falling to the canvas I knew if this fight gets stopped it’ll be the fastest knockout ever and I’m just windmilling my legs trying to get a couple of seconds.

“I felt as though after that fight, for a couple of months that something was amiss, my memory wasn’t quite there or maybe I would be speaking and I was having a hard time finding the word.”

Chael Sonnen on the True Geordie podcast

What’s your favorrite Chael Sonnen fight?

Cris Cyborg expected to remain under Bellator banner amid links to UFC rematch with Amanda Nunes

Cris Cyborg expected to sign with Bellator link to UFC rematch Amanda NunesUndisputed Bellator MMA featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg is currently negotiating terms with the promotion as per president, Scott Coker, amid links with a return to the UFC to score a title rematch with compatriot, Amanda Nunes, with the long-time Bellator leader confident of retaining the Curitiba veteran on his roster. Undefeated since her move to […]

Cris Cyborg expected to sign with Bellator link to UFC rematch Amanda Nunes

Undisputed Bellator MMA featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg is currently negotiating terms with the promotion as per president, Scott Coker, amid links with a return to the UFC to score a title rematch with compatriot, Amanda Nunes, with the long-time Bellator leader confident of retaining the Curitiba veteran on his roster.

Undefeated since her move to the Bellator back in 2020, Cyborg, 37, most recently defeated Arlene Blencoewe in a unanimous decision victory back in Bellator 279 in April of last year in a Hawaii rematch.

Completing her contractual obligations with the organization in her rematch win over the New Zealander, Cris Cyborg, who still remains under the banner of Bellator as per Coker, is expected to return to the promotion later this year, upon the conclusion of negotiations.

Scott Coker confident of signing Cris Cyborg to Bellator MMA contract

Last night in the co-main event of Bellator 293, former UFC bantamweight title challenger, Cat Zingano appeared to stamp her ticket to a featherweight title fight against Cyborg next, taking out Northern Ireland contender, Leah McCourt in a close decision victory.

“I’m not sure what Cat (Zingano) heard [regarding a vacant title fight with Leah McCourt], because I didn’t talk to her directly, but from the company’s standpoint, this was always a three-round [title] elimination fight for the number one contender spot,” Scott Coker told assembled media following Bellator 293. “Cris Cyborg is still the current champion, we still have her under contract right now. We have her under a matching rights provision, we are negotiation with her. And we expect to bring her back at some point this year.”

“Now, it’s going to be a great fight [between Cris Cyborg and Cat Zingano],” Coker explained. “Hopefully we’ll put this together with Cris in the next couple of weeks and her and Cat can work on a big fight for the two of them to fight for Cris’ belt. Somewhere along the line, between my fight team and Ed Soares, and the dialogue, I told them, ‘I don’t know where this got lost,’ but from our perspective, it’s always been a three round [title] elimination fight.” 

Linked with a return to the UFC in an attempt to avenge a December 2018 featherweight title loss to fellow Brazilian favorite, Nunes following the completion of her contractual obligations with Bellator last year, Cyborg suffered a first round KO loss to the Bahia native.

In the time since, Cyborg has defeated Julia Budd, Arlene Blencowe (x2), Leslie Smith, and Sinead Kavanagh during her time under the scrutiny of Bellator.