Bellator is Gone

MMA
Bellator MMA 2008-2023

Bellator MMA is gone for good.

It’s nothing we didn’t know already, but with the active champions and fighters that the PFL picked up, it was thought they would still do something with the name.

Founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney, the promotion featured a tournament format that had a lot of fighters cut their teeth in the sport before they were even well-known. Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler are all-time great lightweights because of the wars they fought there, and the titles they won.

For me, it was my gateway into my media coverage career.

My first event live as a fan was Bellator 108, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against Joey Beltran. Jackson was someone I rooted for since he was a former Pride fighter and getting to see him live, in New Jersey was something special. I got to see him fight again at Mohegan Sun for his next fight at Bellator 110.

I saw something else there too.

I saw people, all in a row, watching the fights and writing about what they saw. Then I saw those pieces published that night and the following morning. I thought, “That’d be cool to do.”

I had no idea a few months later that I eventually would get to do it and do it a lot.

Then, I got to do it for Frontproof Media, Sherdog, MyMMANews, and a bunch of other outlets. I got to meet some really good people not just in the same business, but from the “Bellator family”, like Danny Brener, CJ Tuttle, “Cutman” Matt Marsden, and his wife AJ. I even got to take part in Bellator’s “showday rolls” which were just open mat sessions on the day of their events.

I don’t know if promotions make people feel like they are part of something just because they cover them. I know the UFC has their favorites, we see them all the time. The ones that are there all the time, don’t necessarily fall into that category, and my UFC coverage ability seemed to go away when the UFC was sold to Endeavor.

But Bellator was always there, to make me feel like I was doing something good for the sport, and the fighters. It’s sad to see their time end, but things end all the time in MMA.

Win streaks

Championship runs

And, promotions it seems.

It’s a new year, and MMA has never been bigger so I hope that with the book on Bellator closing, something new opens for fans of MMA this year. In the meantime, it seems their champs will still be defending their titles, and you can watch them on MAX, for now.

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