Francisco Santos "Frank" Mir III is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who competes for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he holds the record for most submission victories in UFC Heavyweight history. Mir possessed the longest uninterrupted tenure of any fighter in UFC history. He was the first man to knock out and the first to submit Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Matyushenko is a retired Belarusian mixed martial artist. A professional from 1997 until 2014, he competed for Bellator MMA, the UFC, Affliction, Jungle Fight, and is the former IFL Light Heavyweight Champion, where he was a member of Ken Yasuda's Tokyo Sabres.
Lyoto Carvalho Machida is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, currently signed with Bellator MMA, competing in the Middleweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger.
Travis Wiuff is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2001 and a longtime veteran of the sport, Wiuff has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Bellator, World Victory Road, and the Quad Cities Silverbacks and San Jose Razorclaws of the IFL.
Muhammed Lawal, also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Major League Wrestling and retired 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 has also competed for World Victory Road and M-1 Global, and worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a professional wrestler.
Ryan DuWayne Bader is an American mixed martial artist. He is the current champion in both the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions of Bellator MMA. Prior to signing with Bellator, Bader competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the Light Heavyweight division. There, Bader achieved success as a top 5 Light Heavyweight contender and he compiled a UFC record of 15-5. He was a cast member and winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir. He is currently ranked the #2 Light Heavyweight and the #6 pound for pound fighter in the world by MMAjunkie.com. He is the first fighter to hold belts in two divisions simultaneously in Bellator history. His nickname is Darth Bader, which refers to Star Wars antagonist character Darth Vader.
Jared Hess is a retired American mixed martial artist. He is most known for his stint fighting for Bellator Fighting Championships in their middleweight division. He was runner up in the middleweight tournament after losing to Hector Lombard.
Phil Kwabina Davis is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes as a Light Heavyweight for Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2008, he is perhaps best known for his 13-fight stint in the UFC. Davis is the former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion.
Vitaly Viktorovich Minakov is a Russian mixed martial artist, sambist and judoka currently competing in the heavyweight division of Bellator, where he is the former Bellator MMA Heavyweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2010, he has also competed for M-1 Global and Fight Nights Global. He is #8 in the world rankings by MMAJunkie.com.
Ryan Martinez is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2009 until 2014, he competed for Bellator and ProElite.
Josh Appelt is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, he has competed for Bellator and King of the Cage.
Brennan Ward is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2008, Ward formerly competed for CES MMA and was the Bellator Season Nine Middleweight Tournament Winner.
Liam McGeary is an English professional mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Light Heavyweight division. He is the former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion.
Brandon Girtz is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2008, Girtz has also formerly competed for King of the Cage.
Desmond Green is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division for Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Daniel Weichel is a German mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, he has also competed in M-1 Global and Shooto.
Javier "Javy" Ayala is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2011, he has also competed for Tachi Palace Fights.
Rafael Carvalho de Souza is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the light heavyweight division of Bellator MMA. He is the 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.
Edward Ruth is an American mixed martial artist and former freestyle and folkstyle wrestler. As a folkstyle wrestler, Ruth was a three-time NCAA Division I national champion.
2016 was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. This year marked the second time that Bellator MMA has done monthly shows as opposed to a seasonal format.
