Tag: Bellator MMA

Former Strikeforce & Bellator head Scott Coker launching new MMA promotion

Posted on by Josh Nason

Scott Coker is returning to the world of MMA as part of a new promotion co-funded by a group of investors with $60 million in financial banking.

Announced on Thursday, the former head of Strikeforce and Bellator MMA is the co-founder and CEO of the unnamed company which is planned to launch in early-2027. From The Hollywood Reporter’s story, Peter Levin of Griffin Gaming Partners is also a co-founder and chairman of the company’s board. He was also an investor and advisor to Strikeforce and has a long history with Coker.

The news comes less than a week after the debut of Jake Paul’s MVP promotion in the MMA space with two former Coker fighters in Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano.

Coker was last on the scene with Bellator, joining the organization in June 2014 and resigning as CEO when it was sold in 2024 to the PFL. He is most known for Strikeforce, the organization he founded in 1985 as a kickboxing promotion but went full on MMA in 2006. It was bought by Zuffa/UFC in March 2011 and Coker remained contractually obligated to Zuffa through 2014.

From the company’s media release, Coker said:

“I always knew I wanted to come back when the time was right, with the right vision and a carefully curated team. That time is now. There is an incredible demand for a fresh, new global brand in MMA. This new league is about returning to what matters: the integrity of competition, respect for the athletes and sharing their remarkable journeys with the world. We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and to the fans who live and breathe this sport. I’ve spent nearly two year developing this concept, and I’m thankful to Peter, all of our investors and the team we’re putting together.”

The investor group includes Tony Hawk, DC United owner Steve Kaplan, New York Yankees limited partner Swimmy Minami, and many others in addition to investment firm Creator Sports Capital and the aforementioned Griffin Gaming Partners.

More news on the promotion is said to be revealed in upcoming weeks.

PFL announces ‘industry transformative deal’ to acquire Bellator MMA

Posted on by Ian Carey

In a deal that could transform the MMA landscape, the Professional Fighters League has purchased Bellator MMA.

After months of rumors, the acquisition was officially announced on Monday. Financial terms have not been disclosed but PFL founder Donn Davis told the Financial Times that Paramount will retain a minority stake in Bellator. He added that the deal will create a stronger competitor to the UFC. 

“PFL is now a global powerhouse in MMA,” Davis said in a statement. “Our Bellator acquisition turbocharges PFL’s mission to innovate the sport and become the industry co-leader.”

“The combined PFL and Bellator fighter rosters are second to none in MMA,” said Peter Murray, PFL CEO. “We can’t wait to bring MMA fans what they have been asking for – best vs best with the PFL Champions vs Bellator Champions Mega-Event.”

Davis also teased on social media that a champions vs. champions event could take place in 2024. 

Ariel Helwani reports that Bellator will continue to operate under the Bellator brand, with shows primarily taking place overseas. 

A minority stake in the PFL was purchased this summer by SRJ Sports Investments, a company created earlier this year by the Saudi Public Investment Fund to bring high-profile global events to Saudi Arabia. 

PFL is gearing up for its 2023 World Championships. The event takes place Friday, November 24, 2023, from The Anthem in Washington, DC. 

AEW’s Jake Hager says he is ‘officially’ retired from MMA

Posted on by Josh Nason

Current AEW wrestler and former WWE World Champion Jake Hager has retired from MMA.

Hager revealed the news during a virtual signing on Tuesday while alluding to some displeasure with Bellator MMA which is where he was under contract.

“Officially, I’m retired from MMA. I trained hard last year, but Bellator was jerking me off. I retired and I am now just focusing on wrestling,” he said.

The 41-year-old retires with a 3-0-1 record, all in the Bellator cage.

He started his run in 2019 with two straight first round submission wins but then tallied a no contest in the same year due to repeated accidental groin strikes that rendered his opponent unable to continue. He returned with a split decision win in late-2020 and never fought again.

In July of 2022, the standout amateur wrestler at the University of Oklahoma said he wanted to fight twice that year and claimed he had a fight on the books for October but that never came to be.

Hager has wrestled sparingly on AEW TV this year, last competing in a battle royal at September’s All Out which was preceded by his appearance in the Royal Rampage in July. His last singles match in the company was in June.

In September of 2022, Chris Jericho said Hager had signed a contract extension with AEW.

Tony & Shad Khan reportedly showed interest in buying Bellator MMA

Posted on by Josh Nason

The Khan family was reportedly interested in adding a new combat sports player to their growing sports portfolio.

On Wednesday’s MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani said that Shad and Tony Khan were one of several groups that have shown interest in purchasing Bellator MMA from Paramount Global who purchased majority ownership in December 2011 when they were called Viacom.

Helwani said he was unclear to what degree the Khans were, or still are, interested. The family owns AEW, the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Fulham soccer club among other companies.

While not formally announced, it has been known in the MMA industry that Bellator MMA is for sale with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) as the group most interested. Helwani noted PFL initially backed out and then got back into the mix several weeks ago, possibly tied into new investment money that will be revealed over the next few weeks or months.

Bellator head Scott Coker and PFL head Rey Sefo acknowledged the talks this past weekend.

Helwani said Liberty Media, an investment group that also was interested in buying WWE, has also shown interest.

Cris Cyborg talks her boxing debut, whether she wants to try pro wrestling

Posted on by Denise Salcedo

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will add pro boxing to her list of accomplishments as she makes her debut on Sunday, September 25th in her native hometown of Curitiba, Brazil, against Simone Silva.

Cyborg will have a tough task on her hands as Silva is a boxing veteran with over 40 professional fights and nearly 300 rounds of experience. Silva has boxed for the WBA, WBF, IBA and WBC World titles in her career.

Cyborg recently held an open media workout in Huntington Beach, California, where I spoke with her about the fight (seen above).

She said she loves a challenge and that even though she has some butterflies heading into the fight, that’s what challenges do: “they give you butterflies in your belly.”

Cyborg has already had a dream MMA career, holding gold in Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC and Bellator. She is MMA’s only “Grand Slam” champion (male or female), having captured every belt in her weight category.

She had a 13-year undefeated streak from 2005-2018 and after her December 2018 loss to Amanda Nunes, she is undefeated in the last four years (6-0) She has been ranked by ESPN in the pound-for-pound rankings more times than any other female fighter in the sport of MMA. . 

She was also part of the first ever televised female main event where she competed against Gina Carano. 

Even with all that success, boxing has been a dream of hers for a while.

“Everybody has to do something really uncomfortable. You cannot just sit down on the bed and sit on the couch and think about having a dream. You have to go, you have to get it….your dream,” she said.

While the two sports have their differences, Cyborg described boxing as being “really complex,” noting that it is making her prepare “really hard” with a lot of sprint work in addition to swimming, sparring and jump rope. 

Cyborg said she draws confidence from that training. She respects all her opponents and is working at getting better and improving her game. 

“Every time I step in a cage, I leave it in God’s hands,” she said.

When it comes to the future in boxing, she would like to do one more fight after this but is still not sure since all her focus is currently on Silva. She also had to defend her Bellator title as well.

In the past, Cyborg has been vocal about possibly trying pro wrestling and has even trained with AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa. While she loves challenges, pro wrestling is “a different sport” but if granted the opportunity, she would train for it. She also brought up another MMA legend and current WWE star Ronda Rousey as “doing amazing” in wrestling.

Yoel Romero pulled from Bellator MMA fight with Anthony Johnson

Posted on by Josh Nason

One of Bellator MMA’s most-anticipated fights in recent memory is off for now as Yoel Romero was pulled from his fight next Friday with Anthony Johnson.

News broke overnight Thursday that Romero was pulled due to not clearing pre-fight medicals. No other information was given as to what that means.

The light heavyweight clash of heavy hitters was a first round match in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. Romero is now out of the tournament completely while Bellator is looking for a replacement to fight Johnson. Because of the short notice, it’s unknown whether that will be for next Friday’s show or a future event.

Bellator PR said Romero will be “eligible to reapply for clearance to compete in the coming months” and that they will look to reschedule the fight in the future. Romero was signed by Bellator last December after a UFC run that saw him challenge for both the undisputed and linear middleweight title on multiple occassions.

The Friday, May 7th, Showtime event is headlined by bantamweight champion Juan Archeleta vs. Sergio Pettis and Michael “Venom” Page vs. Derek Anderson.

JNPO: Bellator hearts Showtime, Gina Carano uproar, UFC antitrust news

Posted on by Josh Nason

Bellator had a surprise for the MMA world Tuesday with the announcement of their move to Showtime, their second network change in six months.

I had some questions about how the whole thing went down and how they can recapture some attention when things kick off in April. Helping me dissect and speculate is John Nash of Bloody Elbow, a new member of the Three Time Club.

Of course, that wasn’t all that happened this week.

After a quick discussion regarding the national anthem controversy in the U.S., we jump into the Bellator/Showtime news, how this is a potential play for new subscribers based on the Bellator audience, and how Bellator can try to get some of that Strikeforce magic once again.

We also talk about former MMA star Gina Carano’s strange week and losing her Star Wars universe/Disney+ gig based on Instagram posts. (Note: this was recorded before her announcement Friday of writing, producing and starring in a movie for The Daily Wire.)

We wrap up with a chat about the latest in the UFC antitrust lawsuit and what lies ahead that could change the UFC’s business forever. 

Click below to listen for free:

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Bellator MMA announces move to Showtime, 205-pound Grand Prix

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the second time in six months, Bellator MMA will be moving their TV location within the Viacom family.

Mauro Ranallo, Bellator president Scott Coker and Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza made the announcement Tuesday that Bellator will be moving to Showtime exclusively in the U.S. starting on Friday, April 2nd — the kickoff for three straight weeks of events. Coker said a big announcement for the European market is coming on Thursday or Friday.

This will be the first time the premium cable network will host MMA since the final Strikeforce show on January 12, 2013, before the organization folded into the UFC. The events will be live on Fridays starting at 9 PM Eastern.

In September, Bellator moved to CBS Sports Network for Thursday shows after a seven year run on Spike TV/Paramount Network that also included a short run on sports streaming service DAZN.

Espinoza gave no business reason for the move other than saying it was the right time to do it. While fellow premium pay channel HBO got out of the boxing business, Showtime has continued to be heavily involved with Espinoza saying the kickoff weekend will also feature a boxing event on Saturday.

April 2nd’s Bellator 255 will feature featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull defending against Emmanuel Sanchez in a Featherweight Grand Prix tournament fight, while April 9th’s Bellator 256 will see the kickoff of their first-ever Light Heavyweight Grand Prix with former light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight titleholder Ryan Bader rematching Lyoto Machida and Corey Anderson facing the debuting Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.

Two more Grand Prix fights will follow at Bellator 257 on April 16th as current champion Vadim Nemkov will rematch Phil Davis and the debuting Yoel Romero will face the debuting Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in a high profile pairing of former UFC title contenders. They also announced May 7th’s Bellator 258 will feature bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta defending against Sergio Pettis.

Ranallo intimated he will be involved with the Bellator product, but it’s unclear if that will be back in the play-by-play chair or as part of the presentation for the show.

AEW’s Jake Hager earns split decision win in Bellator MMA return

Posted on by Josh Nason

Jake Hager stepped into the Bellator MMA cage for the first time in more than a year Thursday night, picking up a split decision win over Brandon Calton to remain undefeated.

Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Hager to give him the win in his first fight that went past the first round.

The fight looked like one contested between two heavyweights that are still learning how to punch with a combined five professional bouts and with no real gas tanks to speak of.

Both were bloodied up with Hager (3-0-1) looking more worse for the wear with cuts under his left eye, his nose, and his ear. His right eye was also swollen.

Calton (2-1) landed the most significant strike of the fight in the second round, a right hand that knocked Hager’s mouthpiece clear across the cage. He couldn’t follow up though and the round ended. Of note, Hager’s mouthpiece came out of his mouth every round.

Almost to form, Hager punched Calton low in the third round while the two were clinched up against the cage. The last time Hager fought ended in a no contest due to repeated low blows which he made into a calling card early in his AEW run.

Hager had the AEW logo on the front of his fight tights and wore an Inner Circle t-shirt to the cage. His fight was the featured prelim on the company’s YouTube pre-show.

The event was held at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena where Bellator has held all of their domestic events since returning to post-pandemic action.

AEW’s Jake Hager returning to Bellator MMA for October 29th fight

Posted on by Josh Nason

More than a year after he last fought, Jake Hager will be returning to the Bellator MMA cage in ten days.

MMA Junkie first reported Monday night that Hager (2-0-0-1) will return at Bellator 250 on Thursday, October 29th against fellow undefeated heavyweight Brandon Calton (2-0). Despite Hager’s notoriety as part of the AEW roster, the fight will be on the prelim portion of the empty arena show at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun.

The 38-year-old hasn’t been in the cage since a no contest against Anthony Garrett last October when he low blowed Garrett several times in the first round, something he later used in AEW.

Hager, who signed with Bellator in November 2017, has yet to see a fight go past the first round with submission wins in his first two outings. He has wrestled sparingly over the last few months in AEW, teaming with Chris Jericho.

Bellator 250 will be headlined by Gegard Mousasi vs. Douglas Lima for the vacant Bellator middleweight championship.

Bellator MMA announces CBS Sports Network move, Cyborg’s return

Posted on by Josh Nason

Bellator MMA officially announced their move to CBS Sports Network Friday afternoon as well as the first MMA show in France and the next fight for women’s featherweight star Cris “Cyborg” Justino.

The CBS Sports Network move has been known about for weeks and would appear to be the right place within the greater Viacom family as it remained the only live sports property on Paramount Network, the former Spike TV, where Bellator has been a fixture since 2013.

The main cards for all of Bellator’s events will air live in the U.S. regardless of whether they are domestic or international, a previous frustration for fans when the company ran shows overseas. Prelims will air on Bellator’s YouTube channel and CBS Sports.com.

Their final show on Paramount will air this weekend with the first CBS Sports Network event set for Thursday, October 1st in MIlan, Italy.

Other notes from Scott Coker’s press conference:

  • The company announced that they will be the first major MMA promotion to run in France with their Bellator Paris show set for Saturday, October 19th featuring Cheick Kongo vs. Tim Johnson II and Michael “Venom” Page against Ross Houston. Up to 5000 fans will be able to attend.
  • Women’s featherweight champion Justino is scheduled to make her first title defense on Thursday, October 15th against Arlene Biencowe at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun. 
  • A Thursday October 29th show will feature Gegard Mousasi and Douglas Lima in a fight for the vacant middleweight championship. Lima will be moving up a weight class.
  • Thursday shows are apparently going to be a common theme with events going forward, an effort to stay away from Saturdays going head-to-head with UFC and Fridays where WWE has SmackDown and a traditionally tough TV night.
  • There is a possibility that bigger shows could air on CBS and/or Showtime. Coker and Showtime have a long history, notably with Strikeforce.
  • On the DAZN side, they are both still discussing their future and waiting to see what happens.
  • He is looking to bring back a featherweight Grand Prix this November.

Bellator MMA postpones June show, eyeing summer comeback

Posted on by Josh Nason

Bellator MMA officially announced the postponement of their June Chicago, IL, event due to the coronavirus pandemic but may be just a few months away from returning to action.

Bellator 244 was scheduled for Saturday, June 6th, at the Wintrust Arena, and was scheduled to be headlined by a rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson and a featherweight Grand Prix bout between A.J. McKee and Darrion Caldwell.

However, Bellator president Scott Coker told MMA Fighting Tuesday that they are looking at resuming action in either June or July on a ViacomCBS studio lot in Hollywood, CA, but with no fans and less than 50 essential personnel in attendance. ViacomCBS owns Bellator.

The current ban on combat sports events in California lasts through the end of May and Coker said he is anticipating new medical requirements from the state athletic commission due to the pandemic. The promotion has postponed four shows thus far, but had no scheduled shows past June. 

The combat sports world is continuing to push the envelope to be the first sport to return back to action as the UFC is moving ahead with plans to hold the newly rechristened UFC 249 on May 9th from an undisclosed location.

DAZN to withhold next rights fees payments, could include Bellator

Posted on by Josh Nason

While networks like ESPN are having difficulties attempting to fill airtime as nearly every major sports league in the world is on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pain is also being felt by subscription services that focus 100% on sports like DAZN.

On Tuesday, it was reported by the Sports Business Journal that the streaming service will begin ceasing the next rights fees payments to their league partners that haven’t provided contractually obligated content.

While not outlined specifically in the SBJ article, one of those partners could be Bellator MMA as they postponed one show in April and three shows in May due to scheduling concerns around the global health crisis.

Bellator is owned by ViacomCBS and simulcasts some events on Paramount Network, the former Spike TV. They announced a nine figure, multi-year deal with DAZN in June 2018.

They also work with several top boxers and promoters like Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin, Anthony Joshua, and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. Additionally, they have deals with Major League Baseball, the NFL, the Champions League, and various other entities around the world.

DAZN is also expected to start furloughing thousands of their staff members in an effort to leave employees on the company books while having them take a leave of absence.

Bellator MMA postpones May events, PFL delays start of season

Posted on by Josh Nason

The uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc with the MMA calendar as two promotions made further dramatic shifts to their schedule Monday.

Several weeks after canceling their Mohegan Sun (Connecticut) event hours before the first punch was scheduled to be thrown, Bellator MMA announced the postponement of their three May shows, first reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani and announced by the promotion Monday night.

Those shows were scheduled for May 9th in San Jose, CA, May 16th in London, England, and May 29th in Temecula, CA. The San Jose show featured a Ryan Bader light heavyweight title fight, and a vacant middleweight title fight between Gegard Mousasi and Douglas Lima. Bellator said they are hoping to reschedule them as soon as possible.

Their next show is scheduled for June 6th at Chicago, IL’s Wintrust Arena, their only event on their calendar until October.

Also happening on Monday, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced their 2020 season is on indefinite hiatus due to the coronavirus. They had yet to announce a formal schedule, but their season was expected to kick off in the late spring. PFL didn’t announce a full cancellation of this year, but said in a statement they were “adjusting their plan for the rest of the year and look forward to starting our next season as soon as it is feasible.”

Conversely, the UFC is still planning to put on UFC 249 on April 18th in an undisclosed location with a main event that might be in jeopardy.

Bellator MMA cancels Friday show due to coronavirus concerns

Posted on by Josh Nason

A day after announcing tonight’s show at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun would still be held but without fans in the seats, Bellator MMA changed course mid-Friday afternoon, postponing Bellator 241 due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

The news was first reported by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp. 

The main event was scheduled to be featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Pedro Carvalho in addition to Daniel Weichel vs. Emmanuel Sanchez, both featherweight Grand Prix bouts. They did not announce a makeup date.

Bellator’s schedule lightens up considerably after Friday with no scheduled shows until May 9th which kicks off a three event month for them. 

As of this writing, UFC is powering ahead with their schedule of shows, holding Saturday’s Brasilia, Brazil, ESPN event in an empty arena. Dana White said in a video Thursday night that their March 21st London event is moving ahead as planned while their Columbus, OH, event (March 28th) and Portland, OR, event (April 11th) will be moved to their Las Vegas-based APEX facility.