Heavyweight or catchweight? Confusion reigns over ‘Rampage’ Jackson vs. ‘King Mo’ rematch
(mmafighting.com)When Bellator first announced the rematch between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal for March 31 at Bellator 175, the bout was unveiled as a heavyweight attraction. But that message was seemingly unclear for one of the competitors.
On a conference call Wednesday to promote Bellator 175, Jackson and Lawal kicked things off by arguing about their usual topic of conversation. Lawal accused Jackson of “looking kinda old” and “kinda fat” ahead of the rematch, while Jackson brushed off the criticism and warned that he would be walking into the cage at a far heavier weight than his foe. But then something curious happened.
Champ Phil Davis vs. Ryan Bader on Bellator 180's PPV card? The fighters are in
(mmajunkie.com)Phil Davis and Ryan Bader, who were longtime UFC light-heavyweight contenders, want a rematch – under the Bellator banner, and on pay-per-view.
On Monday officials announced Bellator 180 is slated for June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event, which already features light heavyweights Chael Sonnen (29-14-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) vs. Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC) and heavyweights Fedor Emelianenko (36-4 MMA 0-0 BMMA) vs. Matt Mitrione (11-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), airs on PPV following prelims on MMAjunkie.
It’ll be the second PPV in Bellator history, and Davis and Bader want to be a part of it.
Bellator MMA officially signs Lorenz Larkin
(bloodyelbow.com)Bellator MMA has beefed up its welterweight division even more, as ex-UFC contender Lorenz Larkin has signed with the promotion.
Seven months removed from his last fight with the UFC, welterweight contender Lorenz Larkin is now part of the Bellator MMA family. Larkin became a free agent following his TKO win over Neil Magny at UFC 202, having turned down a “lowball” offer from the UFC prior to the fight. It should be noted, of course, that Larkin vs. Magny was the “feature Fight Pass prelim,” so a battle between two top-10 fighters was essentially fought in a mostly empty T-Mobile Arena.
Bellator 175 lineup complete after two main-card additions
(mmafighting.com)The main card lineup is set for the next major Bellator event.
The company announced a pair of fights Wednesday for Bellator 175 at Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago on March 31
In a lightweight matchup, unbeaten Steve Kozola (7-0) will meet Jake Roberts (7-1). Kozola, a San Diego native nicknamed “Thunderbeast,” has finishes in all seven of his career matchups, including two in Bellator and one in World Series of Fighting. Roberts, an MMA Lab competitor, looks to shake off a decision loss to Carrington Banks at Bellator 165.
Donavon Frelow replaces Timur Valiev against Bekbulat Magomedov in WSOF bantamweight title fight
(mmafighting.com)World Series of Fighting has to shuffle one of three title fights on its next card.
Timur Valiev is injured and out of his fight against Bekbulat Magomedov for the vacant WSOF bantamweight title at WSOF 35 on March 18 in Verona, N.Y., the promotion announced Tuesday. Former top flyweight contender Donavon Frelow will replace Valiev.
The WSOF bantamweight title was recently vacated by Marlon Moraes, who is a free agent and is expected to sign with the UFC.
Julia Budd Wins Inaugural Title, Marloes Coenen Retires
(mmaweekly.com)Bellator MMA crowned their inaugural women’s featherweight champion in the Bellator 174 main event in Thackerville, Oklahoma on Friday. Women’s fighting veteran Marloes Coenen took on Julia Budd in the title fight, and Budd walked away with the belt.
Coenen, a former Strikeforce bantamweight champion, was the smaller of the two athletes. Each round Budd took Coenen down early and maintained top control for the duration of the frame. In the opening round, Coenen threatened with a triangle-choke attempt, but couldn’t finish the submission.
Bellator 172's Brooke Mayo on stoppage: 'I just feel as women we're kind of treated differently'
(mmajunkie.com)Brooke Mayo had less than a minute left on the clock in her pro debut before a doctor’s assessment rendered her unable to continue.
Sporting a swollen and purple left eye, a distraught Mayo (0-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) could be seen on Bellator 172’s Spike-televised main card pleading for her fight with Veta Arteaga (2-1 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) to go on.
“I can see,” she repeated. “I can see.”
But it was a no-go. After nearly three full rounds of a highly entertaining flyweight battle at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., Mayo was off to a 0-1 start to her professional MMA career.
Bellator signs Brazilian bantamweight prospect Leandro Higo
(mmafighting.com)Another talent from the Pitbull Brothers team has joined Bellator MMA.
Leandro Higo, the Legacy Fighting Alliance 135-pound champion, has signed an exclusive, multi-fight deal with the promotion, Bellator officials told MMA Fighting on Thursday.
Higo (17-2) became the RFA bantamweight champion last April with a first-round submission over Joey Miolla. When RFA and Legacy FC merged into LFA, the Brazilian added the LFA belt to his resume with a decision victory over Legacy FC champion Steven Peterson in January.
Bellator suing UFC to prevent access to documents in anti-trust suit
(mixedmartialarts.com)In 2015 a class-action, anti-trust lawsuit was filed against the UFC. It is ongoing, and argues that the league crippled the market, and created an environment where fighters were unable to fight anywhere else.
The suit accuses the UFC of running “an illegal scheme to eliminate competition from would-be rival MMA Promoters by systematically preventing them from gaining access to resources critical to successful MMA Promotions, including by imposing extreme restrictions on UFC Fighters’ ability to fight for would-be rivals during and after their tenure with the UFC.”
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