2025 may only be slightly over a month old as of this writing, but already, this will go down as a year of noteworthy changes throughout the sport of MMA, certainly in the case of Bellator MMA. On the afternoon of Jan. 13, more than a year removed from the Professional Fighters League (PFL) buying Bellator MMA, veteran journalist Ariel Helwani made the announcement on his self-titled show that Bellator, once a mainstay of Paramount Global-owned cable networks like Showtime, would cease to exist as a brand.
“Bellator is dead,” Helwani said at the time. “Bellator, as we know it, is no more. Bellator is dead. You will not see Bellator events anymore.” Subsequently, the Jan. 25 PFL Champions Series event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at Coca-Cola Arena would feature the fight for the Bellator MMA Lightweight Championship in the main event of the evening.
That Saturday night, Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0, 1 NC MMA, 7-0, 1 NC Bellator) defended his strap at 155 lbs against Paul Hughes (13-2 MMA, 1-1 Bellator) in what was to be the final Bellator MMA championship fight in the promotion’s history dating back to 2009. All subsequent Champions Series events are to carry the PFL branding.
Bellator MMA’s Finest Memories
With the promotion itself in the history file, even though there will no longer be Bellator MMA shows, the memories that the promotion has given its fans will last forever. Today, we open up our ever-trusty vault here at MMA Sucka and take a look back at some of Bellator’s most memorable nights.
There’s no time like the present to open the vault. Let’s not waste any more seconds.
Bellator MMA’s Finest Memories: Bellator 238: Cris Cyborg vs. Julia Budd for Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship- Originally Broadcast: Jan. 24, 2020
For our first entry in this list, we turn the clock back to 2020. Just less than two months before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and turned our planet upside-down, Bellator held its first event of the year in the form of Bellator 238.
Happening the same night as a UFC event in Raleigh, NC, Bellator set up shop out west at The Forum in Inglewood, CA for Bellator 238. That evening’s main event saw the battle for the Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship between Cris Cyborg (28-2, 1 NC MMA, 6-0 Bellator), making her first promotional appearance after getting released from the UFC, and then-incumbent champion Julia Budd (17-6 MMA, 9-1 Bellator.)
This fight was one-way traffic for Cyborg, who dominated Budd en route to a fourth-round knockout (knees and punches) to score her fourth championship, giving her the MMA grand slam for her career. She’d go onto defend the title five times before Bellator MMA closed up shop.
Bellator MMA’s Finest Memories: Bellator 255: Showtime Era Begins- Originally Broadcast: April 2, 2021
After a wild 2020 caused by the pandemic the delay in events that came as a result, Bellator found its groove by returning to a more normal schedule the following spring. Upon the Showtime premium cable network securing US media rights to Bellator MMA events in February of 2021, April 2 of that year saw the promotion return to live action with Bellator 255.
In celebration of the move to Showtime, Bellator 255 was also streamed for free on the Bellator YouTube channel wire-to-wire, along with its FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) feed on PlutoTV, main card action included. The prelims from that night’s card were spectacular stuff to watch. Six out of the seven fights prior to the main card did not require any judges’ decisions.
That main card on the evening of Good Friday almost four years ago saw Usman Nurmagomedov make his Bellator promotional debut against Mike Hamel (11-6 MMA, 4-3 Bellator), besting him (unanimous decision) after three rounds, along with Patricio Pitbull [Freire] (36-7 MMA, 24-6 Bellator) defending his Bellator MMA Featherweight Championship by way of first-round submission (guillotine choke) in the headlining affair. Usually, MMA shows on major holiday weekends are hit and miss.
The night of April 2, 2021, however, was a home run for Bellator
Bellator MMA’s Finest Memories: Bellator Begins Airing Exclusive Events on DAZN With Bellator 206- Originally Broadcast: September 29, 2018
Back in 2018, in order to watch Bellator MMA events live inside the United States, you had to live in the Eastern or Central Time Zones. Even then, you had to hope that the event you wanted to watch took place in America, otherwise the show would be subject to tape-delay on Paramount Network.
In May of that year, Bellator and subscription-based streamer DAZN came to terms on a multi-year deal that would see all shows from the promotion aired live over the service across the country without any delay. While any card that aired on Paramount Network during the life of the deal would be simulcast on DAZN, the deal also gave DAZN rights to a series of Bellator events that couldn’t be screened anywhere else.
While DAZN simulcast the Sept. 21, 2018 Bellator 205 card, a week later, they exclusively streamed Bellator 206. That night’s headliner saw Gegard Mousasi (49-9-2 MMA, 7-2 Bellator) defend the Bellator MMA Middleweight Championship with a second-round TKO victory over Rory MacDonald (23-10-1, 1 NC MMA, 3-2-1, 1 NC Bellator.)
Not everybody throughout the world got to see the card in full. Due to the card running beyond 6 am London time on Sept. 30, 2018, the BBC couldn’t stay for the main event because any program intended for mature audiences is forbidden from airing at or after 6 am local time in London, instead being forced to go to an episode of Peppa Pig.
Final Thoughts
What are some of your finest Bellator MMA memories?