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Rory MacDonald vs Neiman Gracie official for Bellator 222
Bellator 220 took place this past weekend and the main event saw the welterweight title be fought over between champion, Rory MacDonald (20-5-1) and challenger, Jon Fitch to decide who would advance to the welterweight Grand Prix semifinal round. Awaiting the winner was undefeated BJJ ace, Neiman Gracie (9-0). However, there wasn’t a winner as […]
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Bellator 220 medical suspensions: Rory MacDonald facing long-term sit
Bellator 220 was a great card, highlighted by some fun back-and-forth fights, and handful of grisly finishes. While these factors made for an entertaining card, they unfortunately also meant that several fighters on the bill were handed lengthy medical suspensions by the California State Athletic Commission. Main event fighter Rory MacDonald, for example, could be […]
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Firas Zahabi shuts down talk of Rory MacDonald retiring
After Rory MacDonald fought to a majority draw against Jon Fitch in the first round of the welterweight grand prix, his post-fight comments caused quite a stir. “I don’t know what to say,” MacDonald said post-fight. “I landed some good stuff in there, I don’t know. It’s hard to sometimes pull the trigger now. I […]
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Bellator 220 fighter salaries: Rory MacDonald leaves as highest earner
Bellator 220 went down on Saturday night as it was headlined by two big title fights in the respective welterweight and flyweight divisions. In the co-main event, we saw “The Ilimanator” Ilima-Lei Macfarlane extend her perfect record to 10-0 as she picked up her third title defense by finishing Veta Arteaga in the third-round by […]
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PHOTO | Liam McGeary shows broken jaw, tooth sustained in Phil Davis fight
Over the weekend, on the main card of Bellator 220, former Bellator light heavyweight champs Phil Davis and Liam McGeary collided in an anticipated rematch. In the end, Davis won this fight when McGeary sustained an apparent jaw injury in the third round. Writing on his official Instagram account on Sunday, McGeary updated his fans […]
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Neiman Gracie calls ‘bulls**t’ on Rory MacDonald’s post-fight comments
Shortly after battling Jon Fitch to a draw in the main event of Bellator 220, Bellator welterweight champ Rory MacDonald made some comments that cast doubt on his future as a fighter. Most notably, he suggested that he no longer has the desire to hurt people — certainly an issue for those who make their […]
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Darrion Caldwell vs Kyoji Horiguchi 2 official for Bellator 222
The first RIZIN Fighting Federation event of 2019 went down on April 21 with RIZIN 15. It was a great night of fights as per usual from the Japanese based MMA leader. In action, that night was none other than the RIZIN bantamweight king, Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2) who defeated Ben Nguyen via first-round TKO. The […]
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The biggest winners from Bellator 220
Bellator 220, from the SAP Center in San Jose, California, is a wrap. With a whopping 18 fights on the night (including the usual Bellator post-lims) there were plenty of opportunities for fighters to make a statement. Let us take a deeper look and see what fighters showed out in Central Cali. Gaston Bolanos Is […]
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Rory MacDonald questioning fighting future after Jon Fitch draw
Last night, in the main event of Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald retained the Bellator welterweight title and moved to the second round of the Bellator welterweight Grand Prix with a draw against former World Series of Fighting champion Jon Fitch. After this controversial bout, MacDonald is apparently questioning his continued desire to fight — more […]
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Jon Fitch not sure where to go after draw at Bellator 220, contemplates retirement
The Bellator welterweight title was on the line in the main event of Bellator 220 in San Jose, California on Saturday night. In the bout was the defending champion, Rory MacDonald as he took on the seasoned UFC veteran and former World Series of Fighting champ, Jon Fitch. In a very closely contested battle, the […]
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Bellator 220 results: Rory MacDonald draws with Jon Fitch (Highlights)
Bellator has brought back life to their old school style of tournaments with their world title Grand Prix’s. And for the welterweight tournament, Bellator 220 hosted the first title fight as the champion, Rory MacDonald, made his first return after an unsuccessful attempt at capturing middleweight gold in his last time out. The extremely season […]
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Bellator 220 results: Ilima-Lei Macfarlane slices Veta Arteaga to remain champion (Highlights)
The first of Bellator 220’s two title fights went down within the always fun flyweight division as the undefeated champ, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane took on the hungry challenger, Veta Arteaga. Arteaga pushes the action instantly but Macfarlane stops the forward momentum with a single leg attempt that takes them to the cage. Arteaga tries to land […]
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Bellator 220 results: Benson Henderson edges Adam Piccolotti in thriller (Highlights)
Following the first match-up featuring former champions, Bellator 220’s main card rolled on as the former WEC and UFC lightweight king, Benson Henderson returned. Standing across from him was the rising contender, Adam Piccolotti. Each fighter was looking to extend their winning streaks to three straight and make their cases for the next shot at […]
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Bellator 220 results: Phil Davis finishes Liam McGeary (Highlights)
After the Bellator 220 main card action was kicked off by lightweights Gaston Bolanos and Nathan Stolen, we got to the big boys at light heavyweight for a rematch. In November 2016, “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis dominated the then champion, Liam McGeary over the course of five rounds. It was now McGeary’s chance to seek […]
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Bellator 220 results: Gaston Bolanos TKOs Nathan Stolen in the first (Highlights)
Kicking off the main card of Bellator 220 was a fun lightweight match-up that saw Muay Thai star, Gaston Bolanos return against Nathan Stolen. The action starts with Stolen pushing the pace and taking a leg kick before the two trade punches. Each land nicely as Bolanos keeps adding in his leg kicks. He lands […]
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Bellator 220: MacDonald vs Fitch Live Results (Highlights)
Bellator MMA is back with another great card in Bellator 220 that is topped off by two title fights. One of which takes place in one of their Grand Prix’s. In the featured attraction, the welterweight title Grand Prix continues onward as we get to find out who advances to face Neiman Gracie in the […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Scott Coker explains why he took a chance on Leslie Smith
She’s back. After 21 months out of action, ‘The Peacemaker’ Leslie Smith will be returning to action as she has signed with Bellator MMA. A veteran of the sport, especially in the bantamweight division, Smith started to really find her stride in 2016-2017 and still currently rides a three-fight winning streak at 135-pounds. However, Bellator […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Scott Coker provides update on Fedor Emelianenko, likes the idea of a ‘victory tour’ and Josh Barnett fight
Without a doubt, Russia’s ‘Last Emperor,’ Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever grace the face of the Earth. But despite his incredible success throughout his career and late resurgence through the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix, it all ended abruptly in January. At Bellator 214, the vacant title was on […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Scott Coker says Kyoji Horiguchi vs Darrion Caldwell 2 not done deal, but working on it
At RIZIN 14 on New Year’s Eve 2018, we saw a massive inaugural title fight that saw two promotions best bantamweight fighters go head to head. Of course, on one side of the ring, there was the Japanese superstar, RIZIN’s Kyoji Horiguchi. On the other side, it was Bellator bantamweight champion, Darrion ‘The Wolf’ Caldwell […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Bellator 220 fighters share thoughts on potential RIZIN fights
The end of 2018 marked a new era of sorts when it comes to cross-promotion in MMA as Bellator and RIZIN teamed up like never before. For RIZIN’s annual big New Year’s Eve show, in 2018 that was RIZIN 14, one of their biggest stars, Kyoji Horiguchi would fight for the inaugural bantamweight title. His […]
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EXCLUSIVE | With a ‘Today is a good day to die’ mentality, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is well prepared for Bellator 220
Often times when fighters are undefeated, they can understandably be arrogant and perhaps overly confident. The same can be said for champions. So when mixing the two, it’s rare to see that zero stay a zero for all too long. However, despite being both undefeated and a champion, these descriptions wouldn’t be fitting for Bellator’s […]
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Bellator 220 weigh-in results: Both title fights greenlit
Tomorrow night in San Jose, California, the Bellator welterweight and flyweight titles will be on the line. Looking for his first Bellator welterweight title defense and to advance to the semifinals of the welterweight Grand Prix will be Rory MacDonald who is back in his normal weight class after trying to dethrone middleweight champ, Gegard […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Benson Henderson still open to welterweight fights, but has eye on Bellator lightweight title
When it comes to the discussion of who is the greatest lightweight fighter of all time, debates can’t be had without the mention of the former WEC and UFC king, ‘Smooth’ Benson Henderson. Continuously underappreciated throughout his reigns as champion, Henderson was as active of a champion as any and constantly looking for a fight. […]
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Pro fighters make their picks for Rory MacDonald vs Jon Fitch
In the main event of Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald will look to defend his welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Not only will MacDonald be putting his belt on the line, but it will also be the last matchup of the first round of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Rory MacDonald impressed by Ben Askren’s UFC debut, ‘He’s quite a powerful star’
Current Bellator welterweight champion, Rory MacDonald has become fairly familiar with ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler over the years. Formerly a staple of the UFC’s 170-pound division, MacDonald would fight Lawler twice during his UFC run. The first time being in a three-round affair that saw him on the wrong end of a split decision. Their second […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Veta Arteaga was just ready to fight anyone when she got her title shot
History will be made this Saturday night at Bellator 220… And that will all be determined by the flyweights. In the night’s co-main event, we have the returning unbeaten champion, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane as she looks to extend her title defense number to three straight. On the other side of the equation, there’s the always game […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Phil Davis not bothered by Ryan Bader’s recent success ahead of Bellator 220
The man known as ‘Mr. Wonderful,’ Phil Davis, has been one of the best light heavyweights in the world since he started climbing his way up the UFC ladder from 2010 to 2014. After going 9-3 (1 NC) inside the Octagon, Davis would find his way to the Bellator cage where he would make his […]
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EXCLUSIVE | Rory MacDonald knows ‘what not to do’ against Jon Fitch after Gegard Mousasi fight
The last bout of the Bellator welterweight Grand Prix’s opening round is set to headline this Saturday night’s Bellator 220 event live in San Jose, California. The bout will be the first of the tournament to feature the title being contested. Of course, that means that the current champion, Rory MacDonald, will be putting his […]