Bellator MMA has made another major move. After recently signing Corey Anderson from the UFC, Scott Coker announced to CBS Sports that his promotion has signed Magomed Magomedov. North American fans of the sport might not know a lot about Magomedov. The former ACB bantamweight champion is the only fighter to hold a victory over UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan.
Magomed Magomedov Signs with Bellator
Magomedov is a 16-1 career fighter, with his only loss coming to Yan when the two rematched in 2017. We haven’t seen him in action since November of 2018, when he submitted Walter Pereira at ACB 90. Despite being a lesser known fighter, Magomdeov absolutely deserves to be in the discussion as one of the best bantamweight fighters in the world.
Magomed Magomedov enters a very talented Bellator bantamweight division, and there are several competitive fights to make. It would probably be warranted for him to immediately challenge Juan Archuleta, the recently-crowned Bellator bantamweight champion. If Coker would like to introduce Magomedov to the Bellator crowd first, there are several other matchups that could make sense. He could challenge Patrick Mix, who Archuleta defeated for the title. Another possibility could be to match Magomedov up with former UFC flyweight contender Sergio Pettis.
It’s pretty likely that Magomedov will fight one of the aforementioned fighters in his Bellator debut. Anyone else would probably be a sheep being sent to slaughter. As of now, there is no official word as to when Magomedov will make his promotional debut. At 28 years old, there’s no rush. Bellator might want to build him up as a legitimate star before his inevitable title shot. Whatever the case may be, North American fans should familiarize themselves with Magomedov. 11 of his 16 career wins have come via finish, and he will quickly become a favorite of Bellator fans.