Cageside Press

Uncasville, CT — Now a full-time member of the Bellator roster, Kana Watanabe certainly made a strong first impression with North American fans on Friday. Or second impression, perhaps, after appearing on a RIZIN/Bellator hybrid card in late 2019. Watanabe...

Uncasville, CT — Believe it or not, Leslie Smith actually campaigned for a rematch with the fearsome Cris Cyborg. "One thing about me is that I'm not scared of anything, except for not getting the opportunity to fight and...

Uncasville, CT — The first card of Bellator's Showtime era is in the books. Bellator 255 went down Friday, and set up exactly the featherweight grand prix finale that everyone was looking for. In the main event, Patricio Pitbull choked...

Uncasville, CT — On Friday night at Bellator 255, the mainstream MMA audience was introduced to a different kind of Nurmagomedov. A cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib, Usman Nurmagomedov displayed a strong stand-up game in addition to...

Uncasville, CT — After nearly five months, Patricio Pitbull finally got back in the cage on Friday night, and it didn't last long. While his 2018 meeting with Emmanuel Sanchez went the distance, the pair's Bellator 255 rematch went...

Two former UFC welterweight title challengers will collide in July. First reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN, No. 2 ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns will fight No. 5 ranked Stephen Thompson at UFC 264 on July 10, which Conor McGregor and...

When The Ultimate Fighter returns for its 29th season, it will have a pair of top featherweights as coaches. The top featherweights at the moment, in fact. First reported by ESPN, the UFC has opted to give featherweight champ Alexander...

Uncasville, CT — Khalid Murtazaliev hasn't been seen inside the cage in nearly three years. That changed Friday at Bellator 255, with Murtazaliev joining a new home and defeating Fabio Aguiar via unanimous decision. Prior to that, Murtazaliev's last action...

The upcoming Bellator 259 has a women's featherweight title fight as its main event. During Friday's Bellator 255 broadcast on Showtime, the promotion announced the return of Cris Cyborg and Leslie Smith, with both fighters on hand. The pair will...

Since their first meeting in 2018, Patricio Pitbull and Emmanuel Sanchez had both remained perfect. In their rematch on Friday, that would change for one man. The featherweight pair topped the Bellator 255 card, with 145lb gold and a...