Bellator 249: Cyborg vs.BlencoweMain Card: Cris “Cyborg” (23-2) defeated Arlene Blencowe(13-8) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:46 of round two Leandro Higo (20-5) defeated Ricky Bandejas(13-5) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:32 of round two Steve Mowry (8-0) defeated Shawn Teed (6-3-1) via TKO at 4:22 of round one Saad Awad (23-13, 1 NC) and Mandel Nallo(7-1, 1 NC) ended in a no contest (unintentional low blow) Preliminary Card: Andrew Kapel(16-7) defeated Joseph Creer(7-2-1) via TKO (doctor’s stoppage – cut) at 5:00 of round two Kemran Lachinov(10-2) defeated Kyle Crutchmer(6-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Christian Edwards(4-0) defeated Hamza Salim(5-4) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:38 of round two Da’mon Blackshear (8-3) defeated Mike Kimbel (3-3) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:14 of round two Aviv Gozali(5-0) defeated Logan Neal(1-1) via submission (kimura) at 3:22 of round one Albert Gonzales(2-2) defeated Kastriot Xhema(3-5, 1 NC) via TKO (fighter retirement) at 5:00 of round two
BELLATOR 244 AIRS LIVE ON PARAMOUNT NETWORK AND DAZN AT 10 P.M. ET FROM MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
PLUS, FORMER TITLEHOLDER JULIA BUDD RETURNS TO ACTION AGAINST JESSY MIELE IN THE CO-MAIN EVENT
LOS ANGELES – On Friday, August 21, Bellator’s “FightSphere” at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. will host a light heavyweight world title main event bout featuring two-division Bellator champ Ryan Bader(27-5, 1 NC) defending his 205-pound championship against Russia’s Vadim Nemkov (11-2).
The evening’s co-main event sees fomer world champion Julia Budd(13-3) take on Connecticut’s Jessy Miele (9-3) in a featherweight clash.
Bellator 244: Bader vs. Nemkov airs live on Paramount Network and DAZN Friday, August 21 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT. Preliminary action will stream on Bellator MMA’s YouTube channel. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming days.
A winner of seven out of eight contests at both heavyweight and light heavyweight, Bellator’s double champ Ryan Bader will make his first light heavyweight title defense since defeating “King Mo” Lawal, Matt Mitrione and Fedor Emelianenko en route to winning Bellator’s 2018 Heavyweight World Grand Prix and becoming world heavyweight champ. Fighting out of Chandler, Ariz., the former two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler out of Arizona State University began his professional career by winning season eight of The Ultimate Fighter. “Darth” continued his path of dominance by collecting victories over some of the 205-pound division’s top talent, including career wins over Phil Davis (x2), Linton Vassell, “Rampage” Jackson, Rashad Evans, Rafael “Feijão” Cavalcante and Ovince Saint Preux. Most recently, Bader fought heavyweight Cheick Kongo to a no contest following an accidental eye poke.
The 28-year-old Russian powerhouse Vadim Nemkov, who is undefeated over his last six fights and a perfect 4-0 in Bellator since signing in 2017, will enter his first-ever title shot in MMA fresh off a submission win against former middleweight world champion Rafael Carvalho. With that victory, Nemkov has defeated some of the best athletes Bellator has to offer, including three former champions consecutively in Carvalho, Phil Davis and Liam McGeary. A three-time Russian national sambo champion, Nemkov trains alongside the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in Stary Oskol, Russia for the standout Team Fedor.
Former Bellator featherweight world champion Julia Budd has won 11 of her last 12 bouts, including seven victories since signing with Bellator in 2015. After defeating Dutch legend Marloes Coenen for the inaugural Bellator women’s featherweight world title at Bellator 174, the Gibson MMA-product and Port Moody, British Columbia native has gone on to collect victories over top contenders Olga Rubin, Arlene Blencowe and Talita Nogueira. With seven of her 13 career victories coming by way of knockout or submission, “The Jewel” will look to jump back into title contention with a statement win on August 21.
With an impressive career mark of 9-3, Jessy Miele will look to parlay her most recent win over former Bellator title contender Talita Nogueira when she competes at Bellator 244. Hailing from Waterbury, Conn. the 35-year-old is currently in the midst of a four-fight unbeaten streak and was slated to compete against Leslie Smith at Bellator 241 before it was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Fighting professionally since 2014, and competing against the likes of Nogueira and Charmaine Tweet along the way, “The Widowmaker” will undoubtedly face the stiffest test of her nearly six year-career when she meets Budd on August. 21.
Updated Bellator 244: Bader vs. Nemkov Main Card:
Paramount Network and DAZN
10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT
Light Heavyweight World Title Bout: Ryan Bader (27-5, 1 NC) vs. Vadim Nemkov (11-2)
Featherweight Co-Main Event: Julia Budd (13-3) vs. Jessy Miele (9-3)
Heavyweight Feature Bout: Roy Nelson (23-19) vs. Valentin Moldavsky (9-1)
Updated Preliminary Card:
Bellator MMA’s YouTube Channel
Middleweight Preliminary Bout: John Salter (17-4) vs. Andrew Kapel (15-6)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Adam Piccolotti (12-3) vs. Sidney Outlaw (14-4)
Bantamweight Preliminary Bout: Erik Perez (19-7) vs. Joshua Hill (19-3)
Featherweight Preliminary Bout:Lucas Brennan (2-0) vs. Will Smith (3-1)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Vladimir Tokov (7-0) vs. Chris Gonzalez (4-0)
Lightweight Preliminary Bout: Lance Gibson Jr. (3-0) vs. Shane Kruchten (12-5)
*Card subject to change.
Please visit Bellator.com for additional information.
MATCHUP SET FOR JANUARY 25 AT THE FORUM IN LOS ANGELES AND LIVE EXCLUSIVELY ON DAZN
TICKETS ON SALE NEXT FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4
LOS ANGELES – Bellator is set to deliver one of the most anticipated bouts in the history of women’s MMA on Saturday, January 25 at the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, Calif. when reigning champ Julia Budd (13-2) defends her world featherweight title against Cris “Cyborg”(21-2, 1 NC) in the main event.
Tickets for Bellator: Budd vs.Cyborg go on sale to the general public Friday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased at the Forum box office, as well as Bellator.com and Ticketmaster.com. A special presale is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Oct. 2 through Thursday, Oct. 3 using code “BELLATOR” upon purchase.
Bellator: Budd vs. Cyborg will stream live exclusively on the DAZN app at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com,DAZN and globally on the Bellator Mobile App. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.
Fighting out of Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada, Budd will enter the Bellator cage in January for the fourth time since claiming the inaugural Bellator women’s featherweight world title in 2017. Currently riding a winning streak of 11 bouts, including seven straight fights since joining forces with Bellator in 2015, “The Jewel” has her eyes set on a fourth consecutive world title defense when she finally has the opportunity to challenge “Cyborg.” Since knocking off Dutch legend Marloes Coenen for the 145-pound strap at Bellator 174, the Gibson MMA-product has since collected victories over top contenders Olga Rubin,Arlene Blencowe and Talita Nogueira. With seven of her 13 career wins coming by way of knockout or submission, the former kickboxing standout will look to derail the Bellator debut of “Cyborg.”
On the heels of signing the largest contract in women’s MMA history, Cris “Cyborg” will enter the Bellator cage for the first time on January 25, with the opportunity to lay claim to Bellator gold. Just like her upcoming opponent, “Cyborg” too was an inaugural champion, winning the inaugural Strikeforce Featherweight Championship in 2009 after defeating Gina Carano. The 34-year-old Curitiba, Brazil-native’s Bellator tenure follows a three-year run in UFC, multiple world title and a 20-fight unbeaten streak that includes notable victories against Holly Holm, Tonya Evinger, Marloes Coenen and Leslie Smith.
Updated Bellator: Budd vs. Cyborg Fight Card:
Featherweight World Title Bout: Julia Budd(13-2) vs. Cris “Cyborg” (21-2, 1 NC)
LOS ANGELES– Bellator is proud to announce the signing of Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (21-2, 1 NC) to the organization. The deal – the largest of its kind in women’s MMA history – exclusively secures “Cyborg’s” talents with a multi-year, multi-fight contract.
“Cyborg” joins current champ Julia Budd, Olga Rubin, Arlene Blencowe, Janay Harding and Leslie Smith among others, cementing Bellator’s 145-pound weight class as the strongest women’s featherweight division in MMA.
“Cyborg” joins Bellator following a three-year run in UFC, multiple world titles and a 20-fight unbeaten streak that includes notable victories against Holly Holm, Tonya Evinger, Marloes Coenen and Leslie Smith. Notably, the 34-year-old Curitiba, Brazil-native was the inaugural Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion, defeating Gina Carano for the title in 2009.
“I have worked with countless athletes over my thirty-plus years of promoting combat sports, but there is no one quite like ‘Cyborg’,” Bellator President Scott Coker said. “Her ability to excite the crowd from the moment she makes her walk to the cage is special, and having had the pleasure of promoting several of her fights in the past, I am looking forward to the opportunity of promoting her once again. ‘Cyborg’ is the most dominant female fighter in the history of the sport and she will be a perfect fit here at Bellator, where champion Julia Budd and the other women that make up best female featherweight division in the world have eagerly awaited her arrival.”
LOS ANGELES – Bellator’s return to WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. on Friday, July 12 will be headlined by a women’s featherweight title fight featuring Canada’s Julia Budd(12-2) defending her title for a third time against undefeated Olga Rubin(6-0) of Israel.
The event will be broadcast live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, as well as DAZN.com, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and globally on the Bellator Mobile App. Ticketsare on sale now and can be purchased at the WinStar World Casino and Resort box office, as well as through Ticketmaster and Bellator.com. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.
Fighting out of Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada, Budd is set to enter the Bellator cage for the first time in 2019 and for the third time since claiming the inaugural Bellator women’s featherweight world title in 2017. Currently riding a winning streak of 10 bouts, including six straight since joining forces with Bellator in 2015, “The Jewel” has her eyes set on a third consecutive world title defense when she challenges the undefeated Rubin on July 12. Since knocking off Dutch legend Marloes Coenen for the 145-pound strap at Bellator 174, the Gibson MMA-product has since collected back-to-back victories over top contenders Arlene Blencowe and Talita Nogueira. With six of her 12 career wins coming by way of knockout or submission, the former kickboxing standout will look to hand Rubin the first loss of her professional career.
Making her fifth appearance since signing with Bellator in 2017, Rubin looks to protect her unblemished professional mark en route to her first career women’s featherweight world title on July 12. Following a pair of notable knockouts in her first two promotional appearances at Bellator 164 and Bellator 188, the 29-year-old prospect has bolstered her resume with dominating victories over the likes of Cindy Dandois and Iony Razafiarisonin each of her past two bouts. Now residing in Holon, Israel, Rubin splits her time training between Tel Aviv and London’s Team Titan under the tutelage of veteran Brad Pickett. “Big Bad” will look to become the first fighter to beat Budd in almost eight years and join a select group of women that includes just Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes, who have succeeded against the champ in the past.
Updated Bellator: Budd vs. Rubin Fight Card:
Women’s Featherweight World Title Bout:Julia Budd (12-2) vs. Olga Rubin (6-0)
MICHAEL MCDONALD CHALLENGES FORMER BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION EDUARDO DANTAS IN CO-MAIN EVENT
LOS ANGELES – On Friday, July 13, Julia Budd (11-2) will defend her featherweight world title against Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Talita Nogueira (7-0), in the main event of Bellator 202 at WinStar World Casino and Resort. In addition, the co-headliner will feature former Bellator world champion Eduardo Dantas (20-5) taking on Michael McDonald (18-4) in a bantamweight clash of top contenders.
Bellator 202: Budd vs. Nogueira will be broadcast live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.comand globally on the Bellator Mobile App. Tickets for the event go on sale this Friday, April 20 and can be purchased at the WinStar World Casino and Resort box office, as well as through Ticketmaster and Bellator.com. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.
Julia Budd, the only fighter to sit atop Bellator women’s featherweight division, has bested Germaine de Randamie, Arlene Blencowe and Marloes Coenen amongst other names over the course of her eight-year mixed martial arts career. “The Jewel” is also the only woman to defeat Gina Carano in Muay-Thai competition. Now, the Canada-native and former STRIKEFORCE competitor, returns to Oklahoma, where she makes her second title defense since winning the belt last year at Bellator 174.
Talita Nogueira had already been crowned a world champion in jiu-jitsu prior to testing her hand in MMA. “Treta” went undefeated in six MMA contests in her home town of Sao Paulo, Brazil between 2009 and 2013, before signing to compete with Bellator. Originally slated to fight Budd at Bellator 133, Nogueira suffered an injury that forced her to withdraw from the contest. Her highly-anticipated promotional debut ultimately took place at Bellator 182, where the 32-year-old scored a first-round submission over Amanda Bell. The Demain Maia-trained fighter now gets a second chance to compete against Budd, and this time, the world championship is on the line.
Former two-time world champion Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas has proven himself a perennial top-10 bantamweight fighter with impressive performances over Joe Warren, Marcos Galvao (x2), Wilson Reis and Zach Makovsky. The Bellator Season 5 tournament champion has strung together an impressive 10-2 record with Bellator during his seven-year tenure with the promotion. The 29-year-old trains alongside the likes of Jose Aldo at the famed Nova Uniao team in his home town of Rio de Janeiro and is looking for another shot at Bellator gold.
Fighting professionally since the age of 16, McDonald has been a mainstay in the bantamweight rankings for the better part of 11 years. The exciting Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has amassed an astonishing finishing rate, reaching the judges’ scorecards only three times in his 22 fights. “Mayday” made his Bellator debut in 2017, scoring a victory over Peter Ligier, despite fracturing his hand early in the fight. Now that his hand has fully healed, the former world title challenger from Modesto, Calif. will look to defeat Dantas July 13 on Paramount Network.
Updated Bellator 202: Budd vs. Nogueira Fight Card:
Women’s Featherweight World Title Bout: Julia Budd (11-2) vs. Talita Nogueira (7-0)
Bantamweight Main Card Bout:Eduardo Dantas (20-5) vs. Michael McDonald (18-4)
CHRIS HONEYCUTT BATTLES UNDEFEATED JIU-JITSU ACE RAFAEL LOVATO JR. IN MIDDLEWEIGHT CO-MAIN EVENT
LOS ANGELES – The Bellator women’s featherweight championship will be up for grabs on Friday, Dec. 1 when Julia Budd (10-2) defends her title in a rematch against Arlene Blencowe (10-6) at Bellator 189 inside WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., the same venue where Budd captured the inaugural belt earlier this year.
In addition, the co-main event of Bellator 189: Budd vs. Blencowe 2 will feature a middleweight contest pitting rising contender Chris Honeycutt (10-1) against undefeated Rafael Lovato Jr. (6-0). Additional main card and preliminary bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.
The event will be broadcast live and free on SPIKE at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and the Bellator Mobile App. Tickets for Bellator 189: Budd vs. Blencowe 2 are on sale now and can be purchased at the WinStar World Casino and Resort box office, as well as Ticketmaster and Bellator.com.
A STRIKEFORCE veteran, Budd enters the Bellator cage on Dec. 1 as the first and only women’s featherweight champion in promotional history. Currently in the midst of an eight-fight, six-year winning streak, the British Columbia native owns victories over the course of her career against Marloes Coenen, Germaine de Randamie, as well as Gina Carano in kickboxing. Budd has also previously competed at bantamweight, going toe-to-toe with both Amanda Nunes and Ronda Rousey during her tenure in STRIKEFORCE. Continuing the trend of taking on top-flight competition, Budd meets Blencowe at Bellator 189, in her second main event with Bellator.
The fighting pride of New South Wales, Australia, Arlene Blencowe enters her fight with Budd riding a three-fight winning streak, most recently edging out a split decision against Sinead Kavanagh in August. A former world champion boxer under the World Boxing Federation and Women’s International Boxing Association, “Angerfist” nearly defeated Budd during their previous meeting at Bellator 162. A proud mother of two, the 34-year-old now has a chance to add more gold to her mantle, this time coming in the form of a Bellator MMA championship.
Since making the jump from welterweight to middleweight, the Fresno, Calif.-based Chris Honeycutt feels as though he is right at home in his newfound division. Riding a wave of momentum, which most recently culminated in a vicious stoppage against Kevin Casey, “The Cutt” must now get through BJJ ace Rafael Lovato Jr. The undefeated Lovato Jr. has experienced his own wave of success since signing with Bellator, including a submission victory over Mike “Biggie” Rhodes. These two middleweights will meet in the co-main event of Bellator 189: Budd vs. Blencowe 2 in an exciting battle between a two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling All-American at Edinboro University taking on a World Jiu-Jitsu and World No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu champion.
Updated Bellator 189: Budd vs. Blencowe 2 Fight Card:
Women’s Featherweight World Title Main Event: Julia Budd (10-2) vs. Arlene Blencowe (10-6)
Middleweight Co-Main Event: Chris Honeycutt (10-1) vs. Rafael Lovato Jr. (6-0)
