In June 2014, Bellator MMA underwent significant change in their executive ranks. Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company.[1] Former Strikeforce founder Scott Coker was announced as the new President of Bellator MMA.[2]
Coker confirmed Bellator would retain the weekly event schedule for eleventh season, beginning on Friday, September 5, 2014.[3]
Bellator 123 took place on September 5, 2014 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 123 was headlined by a Featherweight Championship rematch between Pat Curran and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. The two originally met in a closely contested fight at Bellator 85 on January 17, 2013, with Curran winning the bout via split decision. The rematch was initially scheduled to take place at Bellator 121, however, it was announced on May 21, 2014 that Curran had pulled out of the bout due to a calf injury.[4]
This event marked the first time Bellator MMA and their rival the Ultimate Fighting Championship have had live shows go against each other. Additionally, both were held in the same state in venues located within miles of each other.[5]
Bellator 124 took place on September 12, 2014 at the Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township, Michigan. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 124 was headlined by a Light Heavyweight Championship match between champion Emanuel Newton and Joey Beltran.[8]
The event also featured the Bellator 2014 Light Heavyweight Tournament Final between Liam McGeary and Kelly Anundson in the co-main event, to determine the next title challenger.[8]
Four time Bellator tournament veteran Brian Rogers was originally scheduled to face former WEC championJames Irvin in the co-main event of this card. However, on September 1, it was revealed that Irvin was injured and Rogers would instead face season eight tournament finalist Brett Cooper.[10] Then, on September 9, it was announced that Cooper would have to pull out of the match due to a back injury; Rogers instead faced promotional newcomer Rafael Carvalho.[11]
Bellator 126 took place on September 26, 2014 at the Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 126 was headlined by a Middleweight Championship bout between champion Alexander Shlemenko and Season 10 Middleweight Tournament winner Brandon Halsey.[12]
Bellator 127 took place on October 3, 2014 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
The event was headlined by featherweight match between former Bellator Featherweight Champion Daniel Mason-Straus and season nine tournament finalist Justin Wilcox.
Bellator 128 took place on October 10, 2014 at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 128 was headlined by a Bellator Bantamweight Championship fight between champion Eduardo Dantas and interim champion Joe Warren.
A Lightweight contest between Alexander Sarnavskiy and John Gunderson was scheduled to take place on this card. However, due to Gunderson pulling out of the bout and retiring, Derek Campos stepped in as a replacement.[14] Campos suffered an injury and was forced out of the fight, Sarnavskiy faced promotional newcomer Dakota Cochrane.[15]
Bellator 129 took place on October 17, 2014 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 129 was headlined by a Welterweight fight between Iowa natives and UFC Vets Josh Neer and Paul Bradley.
In the co-main event Houston Alexander was expected to face Pride FC vet James Thompson in a Heavyweight bout. However, on October 10, 2014, it was announced that Thompson was pulled from the fight due to injury.[16] Alexander instead faced Virgil Zwicker.[17]
The Bellator 2014 Monster Energy Cup took place on October 18, 2014 at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada.
Background
On October 15, 2014, Bellator announced that during the Monster Energy Cup series three fights will take place during the "Party in the Pits" pre-race festivities.[18]
Bellator 130: Newton vs. Vassel took place on October 24, 2014 at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Bellator 131 took place on November 15, 2014 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
The event was announced during the Bellator Season 11 debut on September 5, 2014. It served as the season finale.
Bellator President Scott Coker announced the main event would feature a grudge match between two former top UFC light heavyweights with Tito Ortiz taking on the newly signed Stephan Bonnar.[19]
Additionally, it was announced that the co-main event would be a rematch between current interim lightweight champion Will Brooks and former undisputed champion Michael Chandler, for the vacant world title.[19]
Muhammed Lawal was originally scheduled to face Tom DeBlass on this card. However, on November 1, it was announced that DeBlass had suffered a cut during training and had to withdraw from the bout.[20] Lawal instead faced Joe Vedepo.
This event was the highest rated in Bellator's history, garnering an average viewership of 1.2 million television viewers in the U.S. with a peak of over 2 million viewers in the main event.[21]
Jason L. Lambert is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2001 until 2013, he competed for the UFC, WEC, Bellator, King of the Cage, and AFC. He is the former WEC light heavyweight champion.
Muhammed Lawal, also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Major League Wrestling. As a mixed martial artist, he was last signed with Bellator and Rizin FF, and is a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion thus making him a two time world champion. He Holds notable victories over Gegard Mousasi, Roger Gracie, Cheick Kongo, Rampage Jackson, Linton Vassell and Jiří Procházka. He has also competed for World Victory Road and M-1 Global, and worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a professional wrestler.
Bellator MMA is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California owned and operated as a subsidiary of ViacomCBS. It is one of the largest combat sport promotions in the world and the second largest in the United States. The promotion takes its name from bellātor, the Latin word for "warrior".
Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Two was the second installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships -produced series. It started on April 8, 2010 and ended June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions. The winner of each tournament will get a shot at the current Bellator Champion in his respective weight class. Three of the four current Bellator Champions also fought during this season in "Super Fights". These non-tournament, non-title catch-weight fights were to help prepare the champions in defending their titles against the winners of this season's tournament winners sometime in the third season.
David Branch is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, he has fought for the UFC, World Series of Fighting, Bellator, Shark Fights, and Titan FC. Branch is the former WSOF Light Heavyweight Champion and WSOF Middleweight Champion.
Alexander Sarnavskiy is an Ethnic Russian mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Sarnavskiy has mostly competed in his native Russia, where he is an M-1 Global veteran and former lightweight division in the Bellator Fighting Championships. He is ranked #4 in the ACA lightweight rankings.
Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Six was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so it began with the show on March 9, 2012.
Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Seven was the seventh installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on September 28, 2012.
Bellator MMA: Season Eight was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013.
Bellator MMA: 2013 Summer Series was the third installment of the Bellator MMA Summer Series and started in June 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in the heavyweight, light heavyweight and bantamweight weight classes. Instead of the traditional eight-fighter tournaments Bellator has done throughout its run, it put on four-man tournaments.
Bellator MMA: Season Nine was the ninth installment of Bellator MMA, which began on September 7, 2013.
Tom DeBlass (T-Bone) is an American Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, submission grappler and mixed martial artist currently signed to ONE Championship. He has competed in the middleweight division for Bellator and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Bellator MMA: Season Ten was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV.
2015 was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015.
Rafael Carvalho de Souza is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions of Bellator MMA, where he was a former Bellator Middleweight World Champion. As of December 2017, Carvalho is tied with Alexander Shlemenko for most title defenses in the division's history. He also won the Smash Fight middleweight championship in 2013.
2016 was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016.
2017 was the tenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 26 events in 2017.
2018 was the tenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2015.
2019 is the eleventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 27 events in 2019.
2021 is the fifth year in the history of Legacy Fighting Alliance, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
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