Ryan Bader, the current Bellator heavyweight champion, has announced that he is putting his mixed martial arts career on pause. This is due to the fact that the fighter will take part in the filming of a movie with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Reigning Bellator bantamweight champion Corey Anderson believes UFC bantamweight champion Alex Pereira is being given comfortable opponents.
"The situation in the UFC bantamweight division is becoming increasingly unstable - in every fight, the championship belt could change hands. Yes, there are those who will say, 'This guy will own the belt forever,' and I'm not denying it - Pereira is dangerous, one hundred percent, but, aside from Jan Blachowicz, who moved him twice and ran out of steam, who else has he fought who could move him? There just weren't any. I don't want to offend anyone and I'm just stating a fact - he's been given convenient opponents like Jamal Hill, and so far he hasn't fought any high caliber fighters who could give him a real test. All of his opponents have been good fighters, but not dangerous to him. He had one dangerous opponent and we saw what happened. It was the same with Blachowicz, but Jan got the fight plan wrong."
Ben Askren, former Bellator and ONE champion and former UFC fighter, has spoken out about a possible fight between Jon Jones and Alex Pereira.
"People would be interested in seeing that fight. If Alex were to have a bout with Aspinall, he would probably have to stop a few of the takedowns. Fans are curious to see what Alex is like in wrestling, if he can defend against translations. After all, if you don't have those skills, Jones is just going to transfer you and sub you out. We saw Pereira get transferred by Izzy. He stayed underneath him for a significant portion of the time.... Let's say their fight with Jones does happen. I think it would be over in two minutes in the octagon. Look at what Jon did to Cyril Gunn. Jon is a big man, a high-level fighter, he has great grappling skills. It's a very likely outcome," Askren was quoted as saying by Middle Easy.
Patrick Meeks. The Bellator flyweight champion, stated that he would have no problem taking out Peter Yan and Sean O'Malley
"Everybody draws conclusions because of what promotion is written in front of my name. Sean O'Malley's credentials are no greater. I've fought just as dangerous opponents, I've finished fights early more often than not. He's lost more rounds than I have. I'm just a little short of 31 straight wins - I had a record of 11-0 in the amateurs and now 19-1 in the pros. Look what Peter Yan did to O'Malley! I mean, that was a very close fight. I'm in the stratosphere compared to them. I'd put Petr Yan to bed, too. And Sean O'Malley. There's no guys in the UFC that can compete with me. Unless Merab," MMA Junkie quoted Meeks as saying.
Gegard Mousasi, the former Bellator middleweight champion, is unhappy with the PFL management, which has yet to offer him a fight after the promotions merger.
"In Bellator you get paid well, but you don't fight often enough. In the UFC you fight a lot, but they don't pay you enough. In the PFL, I don't fight at all. So every promotion has its own nuances. I even offered to let me fight in the welterweight division. The answer was silence. The UFC did the same thing with Orlovski when they didn't give him a fight for a year. I don't know. Apparently, it's politics," MMA News quotes Mousasi.
Recall, his last fight Mousasi held in May last year, losing to Fabian Edwards at the tournament in Paris.
Bellator lightweight champion Patrick Meeks expressed confidence that his teammate Merab Dvalishvili will win the UFC belt in the same category in the near future.
Aljamain Sterling, former UFC lightweight champion, has named Bellator fighters he thinks should be signed to the UFC.
Former UFC champion and current Bellator champion Cris Cyborg reacted to former UFC champion Ronda Rousey, who recently called herself the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
Bellator 302 recently concluded in Belfast, with Anderson winning the bantamweight title in the main event, beating Carl Moore by split decision. Here are all the results of the tournament.
Bellator 302 will take place tonight in Belfast, headlined by Corey Anderson's bout with Carl Moore. The preliminary fights will be broadcast starting at 7:00pm. Below is the link to the broadcast and the fight card for the event.
