2016 in Bellator MMA
2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016.
Background
2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickboxing, which would debut on the night of Bellator 152 on April 16 and be taped for broadcast on Spike TV on April 22.Bellator 148
Bellator 148: Daley vs. Uhrich took place January 29, 2016, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
The main event was a Welterweight fight between Paul Daley and Andy Uhrich.
The event was expected to be headlined by a welterweight bout between UFC veteran Josh Koscheck and Matt Secor. However Koscheck pulled out of the bout due to an injury. As a result, Paul Daley vs. Andy Uhrich was elevated to the main event
Also on the card Paul Bradley faces Chris Honeycutt in a rematch. Bradley and Honeycutt first squared off at Bellator 140, where their bout ended in a no contest in the second round due to an accidental clash of heads opening a cut on Bradley that forced a stoppage.
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Bellator 149
Bellator 149: Shamrock vs. Gracie III took place February 19, 2016, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV, drawing an average 2.0 million viewers.Background
The main event and co-main event of Bellator 149 were announced on the air during Bellator 145. President Scott Coker announced the main event fight would feature trilogy bout between combat sports legends Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. Gracie initially beat Shamrock in fifty-seven seconds via rear-naked choke at their first meeting at UFC 1 in 1993. Subsequent to that bout, the duo fought to a thirty-six minute draw at UFC 5 in 1995.
The co-main event featured a heavyweight bout between former Miami-Dade County street fighters Kevin Ferguson, aka "Kimbo Slice" and Dhafir Harris, aka "Dada 5000"
During intermission after the Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000 fight and shortly before the Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie bout, Bellator MMA ring announcer Michael C. Williams announced to the live Toyota Center crowd that the attendance was 14,209. Thus making Bellator 149 the largest attended show in Bellator MMA history, beating out Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 previous live attendance of 11,732.
Following the event it was announced that both Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice had failed their pre-fight drug tests. Shamrock tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, the opioid methadone, and an elevated ratio of 12.4:1. Meanwhile, Slice also tested positive for nandrolone and having an elevated ratio of 6.4:1. The maximum allowed ratio by both the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and the World Anti-Doping Agency is 4:1. On May 2, 2016, it was revealed that Slice had settled with the Texas Athletic Commission with a fine of $2,500 and a revoking of his license in the state of Texas. The result of the bout has also been changed to a no contest.
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Bellator 150
Bellator 150: Kongo vs. Spartan took place February 26, 2016, at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
The event was expected to be headlined by a rematch between Marcos Galvão and Eduardo Dantas for the Bellator Bantamweight Championship. The bantamweight title rematch was originally scheduled for Bellator 144, but was postponed when Dantas was forced to withdraw after suffering a rib injury in training. Dantas defeated Galvão via second-round knockout in their first meeting at Bellator 89 when “Dudu” was the promotion's reigning 135-pound champ. However, due to an illness throughout the week leading to the fight, Galvão was pulled from the card the day of the weigh ins.
The co-main event featured local favorite David Rickels facing off against Bobby Cooper.
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Bellator 151
Bellator 151: Warren vs. Caldwell took place March 4, 2016, at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
The event was headlined by a Bantamweight bout between Joe Warren and undefeated rising star Darrion Caldwell. A former two-division champion, Warren has won six of his last seven fights in Bellator MMA. The 39-year-old last appeared at Bellator 143 on Sept. 25, when he captured a unanimous verdict against L.C. Davis. The 27-year-old Caldwell is 8-0 in his burgeoning career, including five triumphs under the Bellator banner. In his last outing, the former NCAA national champion wrestler choked out Shawn Bunch inside of a round at Bellator 143.
Michael Page was originally scheduled to face Fernando Gonzalez at this event but was pulled out of the bout in early February 2016. He was replaced by Resurrection Fighting Alliance welterweight champion Gilbert Smith.
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Bellator 152
Bellator 152: Italy took place April 16, 2016, at the Pala Alpitour in Torino, Italy. The event aired on Spike TV.Background
The event was announced in Paris by Bellator MMA President Scott Coker joined by Oktagon Kickboxing President Carlo Di Blasi a co-promoted event set to take place on April 16 at the Pala Alpitour in Torino, Italy.
Bellator 152 was followed by "Bellator Kickboxing: Torino”, the debut event of Bellator Kickboxing. The event would be televised on Friday, April 22 on Spike TV, following their broadcast of Bellator 153.
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Bellator 153
Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson took place April 22, 2016, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
The event was headlined by a Welterweight Championship match between current champion Andrey Koreshkov and former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. The 32-year-old Henderson recently ended a 14-fight run with the UFC by signing a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA. A longtime 155-pounder, Henderson recorded back-to-back wins as a welterweight in 2015. Also on the card is the Bellator debut of Evangelista Santos taking on long time contender Brennan Ward.
Former Bellator Featherweight Champion Patrício Pitbull was originally scheduled to face John Macapá. who had to pull out of the evening's co-feature bout with a broken rib.
'''Results'''
Bellator 154
Bellator 154: Davis vs. King Mo is a mixed martial arts event held on May 14, 2016, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, USA. The event was aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
Davis vs. King Mo was announced during Bellator 149 in Houston. The two men were supposed to face each other in the finals of the Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 light heavyweight one-night tournament back in September, but "King Mo" sustained a hip injury after winning in the first round. Former UFC star Phil Davis won the tournament at Dynamite by submitting Emanuel Newton and knocked out reserve fighter Francis Carmont. Davis was originally scheduled to challenge light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary, but McGeary was injured. Lawal won the two-night, eight-man tournament at Rizin Fighting Federation on New Year's Eve in Japan. He knocked out Brett McDermott in the first round, beat Teodoras Aukstuolis in the semifinals by unanimous decision and knocked out Jiri Prochazka in the final. The winner of the main event will challenge for the title against the current champion.
Former Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler was scheduled to face former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson in a lightweight bout. However, on May 2, it was announced that Thomson pulled out of the bout due to an undisclosed injury. As a result, Chandler was pulled from the card altogether.
Jordan Parsons was scheduled to face Adam Piccolotti in a featherweight bout on this card. That fight was cancelled after Parsons was involved in a hit-and-run accident that left him hospitalized before he died on May 4, 2016.
Sergei Kharitonov was scheduled to make his debut on this card against Josh Appelt. However, on May 11, Kharitonov withdrew from the bout due to illness. As a result, Appelt was also removed from the card.
Darren Uyenoyama was scheduled to fight on this card against Alvin Cacdac but required medical testing revealed a condition that would not allow Darren to compete.
'''Results'''
Bellator 155
Bellator 155: Carvalho vs Manhoef took place May 20, 2016, at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
The event was headlined by a match between Rafael Carvalho and Melvin Manhoef for the Bellator Middleweight Championship. Carvalho pulled off one of 2015's biggest upsets when he finished Brandon Halsey with a body kick in the second round to claim the Middleweight title at Bellator 144 last October. The Brazilian has not lost since his MMA debut in 2011 and has stopped 10 of his last 12 opponents. Manhoef earned his shot at the title by knocking out Hisaki Kato in the opening round at Bellator 146.
The co-main event featured former Bellator Featherweight Championship Champion Pat Curran facing off against former World Series of Fighting featherweight champion Georgi Karakhanyan.
This event was scheduled to crown the inaugural Bellator women's featherweight champion in a bout between Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd. However, Budd was injured and replaced by Alexis Dufresne thus changing the fight to a non-title bout.
A preliminary bout between Ricky Steele and Eric Cronkhite was cancelled after Cronkhite missed weight by 9 pounds.
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Bellator 156
Bellator 156: Galvao vs. Dantas 2 took place on June 17, 2016, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.Background
Marcos Galvão made the first defense of his Bellator Bantamweight Championship title against Eduardo Dantas. The rematch was originally scheduled for Bellator 150, but was scrapped following a last-minute illness suffered by Galvão. Both fighters cut their teeth with André Pederneiras’ Nova União squad in Rio de Janeiro, until their paths crossed at Bellator 89. Dantas won the fight via a second-round knockout. Dantas went on to defend the title against Anthony Leone before losing it to Joe Warren at Bellator 128. In turn, Galvão pieced together three consecutive victories and then defeated Warren via second-round technical submission to become the new champion.
Douglas Lima was originally scheduled to face Chidi Njokuani, but was pulled from this bout when he got the call to headline Bellator 158 in London against Paul Daley due to an injury that forced Josh Koscheck out of that match up.
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