Bellator?

War funi

OU wrote:

Bantamweight: Ueda
Featherweight: Daniel Straus
Lightweight: Patricky Freire
Welterweight: Brian Foster- changed to Baker when Foster was ruled out of tourney
Middleweight: Maiquel Falcao

OU wrote:

Since my predicted winner isn't going to compete. I'll change my winner to Baker.

Straus and Falcao already in the finals. Baker in Semis.

Looks like Bellator's season 6 couldn't keep up with itself.

The line-up for the season ending Bellator 70 came out today.

The Bantamweight Finals bracket have yet to be decided. Luis Nogueira faces Hiroshi Nakamura in the final Semifinal fight, the winner to meet finalist Marcos Galvao at a summer event.

Karl Amoussou meets Dave Rickles Friday at Bellator 69 to determine the final participant in the Welterweight tournament finals against Brian Baker.

They planned for the BW tournament finals to happen during the summer season that starts shortly after season 6.

I don't know if they planned the same for WW, but Psycho-Rickels got pushed back 2-3 weeks because of injury.

I think Amoussou is my only pick still in the game.

OU wrote:

OU wrote:

Bantamweight: Ueda
Featherweight: Daniel Straus
Lightweight: Patricky Freire
Welterweight: Brian Foster- changed to Baker when Foster was ruled out of tourney
Middleweight: Maiquel Falcao

OU wrote:

Since my predicted winner isn't going to compete. I'll change my winner to Baker.

Straus and Falcao already in the finals. Baker in Semis.

I got Straus and Falcao right, Baker is now in the finals.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/28985/bellator-signs-brazilian-bantamweight-rafael-silva.mma
Bantamweight Rafael "Morcego" Silva will bring a nine-fight winning streak Stateside after signing with Bellator.

The promotion on Thursday announced the acquisition of Silva (17-3 MMA, 0-0 BFC) for its 135-pound division. The seven-year pro trains with the Renovacao Fight Team in Brazil that includes fellow Bellator fighters Maiquel Falcao, Luis Nogueira, Genair da Silva and Ricardo Tirloni.

"Signing with Bellator is by far the best thing that ever happened to me," Silva stated. "It’s a chance of showing the world what I can do inside the cage. My manager always tells me how great of an atmosphere Bellator has and I can’t wait to be part of it."

Silva's nine-fight run includes seven stoppages – five knockouts and a pair of submissions. In 2012 alone, Silva is 3-0 with three first-round knockouts – including a seven-second head-kick win in his native Brazil, where all 20 of his pro fights have taken place.

After starting his career 1-2, Silva has won 16 of his past 17 fights with just three decisions. Notable among Silva's wins is a unanimous-decision victory in December 2009 over current UFC flyweight John Lineker.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney praised Renovacao head trainer Marcelo Brigadeiro, whose lute livre grappling style has started to turn out a heavy presence on the Bellator roster.

"Marcelo Brigadeiro's RFT is developing a spectacular group of Brazilian fighters," Rebney stated. "Rafael joins 'Big Rig,' Ricardo, Genair and Luis who are all further establishing lute livre's position in the MMA world."

Silva said his sights are on Bellator bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas, who won the title against Zach Makovsky in April with a second-round submission victory.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29197/bellator-adds-unbeaten-vitaly-minakov-ryan-martinez-to-heavyweight-ranks.mma
Bellator continues to grow its heavyweight roster with the addition of two new signees.

The promotion on Thursday announced the signing of Vitaly Minakov (8-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC). He joins Ryan Martinez (7-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC), another recent signing, in the company's heavyweight ranks.

Minakov's debut with the promotion is expected to be announced shortly; Martinez will fight for the first time under the Bellator banner at Bellator 73 on Aug. 24 against an opponent still to be determined.

Vitaly, good week, KO Sanchez hard, get Bellator shot.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Vitaly, good week, KO Sanchez hard, get Bellator shot.

Yeah, good for him. I like his response.

Quote :

"Becoming a Bellator fighter means that all my hard work in the gym and training has all paid off," Minakov stated. "It means myself and my entire team were working in the right direction and we did everything right."

http://www.mmafighting.com/bellator/2012/6/15/3089820/bellator-signs-knockout-artist-paul-daley

Bellator Signs Knockout Artist Paul Daley

Bellator continued its aggressive plunge into the free agent pool, signing UFC and Strikeforce veteran Paul Daley.

The promotion confirmed the addition of the British knockout artist to MMA Fighting on Friday.

Daley will make his organizational debut at Bellator 72 on July 20.

"I’ve been a 'Semtex' fan for years," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a statement. "He’s an incredibly explosive fighter who is magic to watch inside the cage. So, when the opportunity presented itself to join forces with Paul, it was a simple decision to make. Paul’s one of those fighters I’ve always intentionally stayed home to watch and now I can watch him cageside at Bellator."

Just last week, the 29-year-old Daley had asked for and been granted his release from Strikeforce.

It didn't take him long to find a new home.

"I've been a fan of Bellator for a long while," Daley said in a statement. "When this chance came up, I was absolutely ready to make a long-term commitment to Bellator. I have my sights set on winning the tournament and winning that Bellator title."

The UK-based welterweight has established a reputation as one of the hardest-hitters in the division, earning 20 knockout wins over the course of his career. He's 29-12-2 overall.

Daley has had runs in promotions from the UFC to Strikeforce to BAMMA, and holds career wins over respected veterans like Martin Kampmann, Jorge Masvidal and Duane Ludwig. He was memorably booted from the UFC after punching Josh Koscheck after the final bell of their UFC 113 fight, and UFC president Dana White vowed never to employ him again. Daley, of course, did later ply his trade in a Zuffa-owned organization when the company bought Strikeforce in 2011.

While competing for the promotion, he fought Nick Diaz for the welterweight title, losing via TKO with three seconds left in the first round, a round that many considered the best one of 2011.

His last fight came in March, when he lost a close, split-decision to Kazuo Misaki. Prior to that, he'd earned back-to-back wins over Luigi Fioravanti and Jordan Radev.

Daley is the second major signing for the promotion within the last few weeks. In May, they inked former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Muhammed "King Mo." Lawal to a deal.

freakzilla wrote:

http://www.mmafighting.com/bellator/2012/6/15/3089820/bellator-signs-knockout-artist-paul-daley

Bellator Signs Knockout Artist Paul Daley

Bellator continued its aggressive plunge into the free agent pool, signing UFC and Strikeforce veteran Paul Daley.

The promotion confirmed the addition of the British knockout artist to MMA Fighting on Friday.

Daley will make his organizational debut at Bellator 72 on July 20.

"I’ve been a 'Semtex' fan for years," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a statement. "He’s an incredibly explosive fighter who is magic to watch inside the cage. So, when the opportunity presented itself to join forces with Paul, it was a simple decision to make. Paul’s one of those fighters I’ve always intentionally stayed home to watch and now I can watch him cageside at Bellator."

Just last week, the 29-year-old Daley had asked for and been granted his release from Strikeforce.

It didn't take him long to find a new home.

"I've been a fan of Bellator for a long while," Daley said in a statement. "When this chance came up, I was absolutely ready to make a long-term commitment to Bellator. I have my sights set on winning the tournament and winning that Bellator title."

The UK-based welterweight has established a reputation as one of the hardest-hitters in the division, earning 20 knockout wins over the course of his career. He's 29-12-2 overall.

Daley has had runs in promotions from the UFC to Strikeforce to BAMMA, and holds career wins over respected veterans like Martin Kampmann, Jorge Masvidal and Duane Ludwig. He was memorably booted from the UFC after punching Josh Koscheck after the final bell of their UFC 113 fight, and UFC president Dana White vowed never to employ him again. Daley, of course, did later ply his trade in a Zuffa-owned organization when the company bought Strikeforce in 2011.

While competing for the promotion, he fought Nick Diaz for the welterweight title, losing via TKO with three seconds left in the first round, a round that many considered the best one of 2011.

His last fight came in March, when he lost a close, split-decision to Kazuo Misaki. Prior to that, he'd earned back-to-back wins over Luigi Fioravanti and Jordan Radev.

Daley is the second major signing for the promotion within the last few weeks. In May, they inked former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Muhammed "King Mo." Lawal to a deal.

Has a chance at defeating everyone in their WW divison, except Askren.

Plenty of good fights for him.

Well, if he wanted activity Bellator is the place to go.

Daley vs. Lima would be great.

Askren vs Daley !!
War FUNKY !!!

So Bellator has recently picked up Daley, Mo, and Rogers. All come with baggage, but all are high profile, and Mo at least could be viewed as a near elite level fighter.

Interesting happenings, and setting themselves up nicely for the move to spike in 6 months time.

I really have to do a better job of catching(or at least dvr'ing) Bellator in the future.

Former Olympic Hopeful Shawn Bunch Signs With Bellator




By Ariel Helwani - Video Reporter and Writer

Follow @MMAFighting on Twitter, and Like MMA Fighting on Facebook.

Jun 17, 2012 - After failing to qualify for the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team less than two weeks ago, Shawn Bunch, one of the top American freestyle wrestlers, has turned his attention to mixed martial arts.

According to sources close to the situation, Bunch has signed a multi-fight contract with Bellator Fighting Championships. The deal is expected to be officially announced by the organization later this week.

The 29-year-old Bunch is scheduled to debut for the promotion in the fall as a bantamweight. He will compete in an undetermined amount of non-tournament fights before getting a chance to qualify for an upcoming 135-pound tournament.

Bunch, a former U.S. National and Pan-American champ, was consider by many wrestling pundits to be a favorite for the final spot on the 2012 U.S Olympic freestyle wrestling team, however, he lost to Coleman Scott last week at a wrestle-off in Times Square.

The five-foot-five Bunch graduated from Edinboro University with a career amateur wrestling record of 132-24. He finished second in the 2005 NCAA Championships and third in the 2006 tournament.

According to the same sources, Bunch, an official member of the famed Team Thirtsy, will join the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif. He will enter Bellator without any amateur or pro MMA fights on his resume.

And Bellator signs another highly touted European.

Bellator Adds 20-0 Russian Phenom Alexander Sarnavskiy to Lightweight Roster

20-0 Russian prospect Alexander Sarnavskiy has signed with Bellator Fighting Championships and will compete in their next lightweight tournament.

Bellator officials announced the signing on Tuesday.

One of the top unsigned prospects in the sport, Alexander Sarnavskiy amassed an impressive 20-0 record while competing in several promotions, but most notably fought under the M-1 Global banner for several fights.

A student under top Bellator middleweight contender Alexander Shlemenko, the Russian fighter has only gone to decision three times in his career while picking up 6 knockouts or TKO’s and 11 submissions.

“The Bellator tournament will be a difficult test for me,” Sarnavskiy said. “I will train and prepare myself the best I can. I have a huge responsibility to my coach, my manager, my fans and my country. I won’t disappoint them and I want to show them a spectacular performance.”

Sarnavskiy will join the Bellator lightweight tournament slated to kick off later this year with the winner getting a shot at the belt currently held by top ten 155lb fighter Michael Chandler.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/bellator-adds-20-0-russian-phenom-alexander-sarnavskiy-to-lightweight-roster

Bellator's LW division is about on par depth wise with SF's probably, if not better.

Can't wait for Hawn vs Chandler.

Bellator 205 tourney...yawn

They should just axe everything above 185

disagree...divisions improve with time and attention.

Are Bellator's summer events always like a month apart? I don't remember that

I think Bellator is catching on, several of my friends have mentioned it recently and I was kind of surprised

bobbitt15 wrote:

did they sign that guy?

KingsOwn19 wrote:

bobbitt15 wrote:

did they sign that guy?

that guys awesome to watch but i have a feeling a good wrestler will give him a lot of problems