Tag: Bellator Paris

Video: Bellator lightweight grand prix fighters face off for first time

Take a look as the participants for the Bellator lightweight grand prix came face to fight for the first time.

LOS ANGELES โ€“ Bellator is hosting a lightweight grand prix this year, and for the first time Friday, the promotion brought all eight participants together for a news conference, followed by faceoffs.

The tournament kicks off March 10 at Bellator 292 in San Jose, Calif., where champion [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (16-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) defends the title against [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (30-11MMA, 7-6 BMMA) in a quarterfinal. Also that night, [autotag]Tofiq Musayev[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) meets [autotag]Alexander Shabliy[/autotag] (22-3 MMA, 3-0 BMMA).

On May 12 at Bellator Paris, [autotag]Mansour Barnaoui[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take on [autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) in a quarterfinal. The remaining quarterfinal between [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (20-1MMA, 20-1 BMMA) and [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag] (24-11 MMA, 15-9 BMMA) has yet to be booked for an event date and location.

In the video above, you can watch all the opponents come face to face.

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Ex-champ Douglas Lima moves back to 185, meets Costello Van Steenis at Bellator Paris

A former Bellator welterweight champion is moving back up a division, and he has his first assignment.

A former Bellator welterweight champion is moving back up a division, and he has his first assignment.

[autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (32-11 MMA, 14-7 BMMA) has been booked for a middleweight matchup against [autotag]Costello Van Steenis[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) when Bellator returns to France this spring. Bellator officials announced the new booking Thursday, as well as a light heavyweight bout between [autotag]Jose Augusto[/autotag] (7-4 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Simon Biyong[/autotag] (9-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) for the prelims.

Bellator Paris takes place May 12 at Accor Arena in Paris. The main card will air on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. The event will be Bellator’s second event in Paris in less than a year.

Lima will be looking to get back on track in what is the roughest stretch of his career. “The Phenom” beat Andrey Koreshkov in a rematch to reclaim the 170-pound title in 2016 and defended it against Lorenz Larkin in 2017. But in early 2018, he lost the belt to Rory MacDonald.

Lima rebounded with finishes of Koreshkov, then became the first fighter to beat Michael Page when he knocked him out at Bellator 221. Later in 2019, he beat MacDonald to get the welterweight title back.

Then his struggles started. He dropped a unanimous decision to then-middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi in a bid to become a two-division titleholder. Then he lost the welterweight title to Yaroslav Amosov in June 2021. Later that year, he dropped a split call to Page in a rematch, and in July 2022, he lost a decision toย Jason Jackson for his fourth straight setback.

Van Steenis will be looking to build on back-to-back wins over Fabian Edwards in 2020 and a submission of Kamil Oniszczuk this past October at Bellator 287. Van Steenis, from the Netherlands, is a training partner of Mousasi, who headlines Bellator Paris.

With the additions, the Bellator Paris lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)

  • Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards
  • Mansour Barnaoui vs. Sidney Outlaw โ€“ lightweight grand prix quarterfinal
  • Douglas Lima vs. Costello van Steenis
  • Thibault Gouti vs. Kane Mousah

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, noon ET)

  • Davy Gallon vs. Saul Rogers
  • Jose Augusto vs. Simon Biyong

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Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards, lightweight grand prix quarterfinal headline Bellator Paris in May

Bellator returns to Paris in May with a middleweight main event and lightweight grand prix quarterfinal.

Bellator will return to Paris in May, topped by two fights with a lot at stake.

The card, scheduled for May 12 at Accor Arena, will be headlined by a middleweight title eliminator between former champion [autotag]Gegard Mousasi[/autotag] and [autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag], promotion officials announced Thursday morning.

Mousasi (49-8-2 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) will look to rebound from his title loss to Johnny Eblen at Bellator 282, whereas Edwards (11-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) aims to keep rolling after back-to-back wins over Lyoto Machida and Charlie Ward.

In the co-main event, Paris’ own [autotag]Mansour Barnaoui[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take on [autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) in a lightweight grand prix quarterfinal. Barnaoui made his successful promotional debut this past October when he submitted Adam Piccolotti at Bellator 287. After picking up two straight wins over Piccolotti and Myles Jury, Outlaw was stopped by Tofiq Musayev in the first round at Bellator 283.

The booking of Barnaoui and Outlaw means that A.J. McKee and Patricky Freire will be paired against each other in the fourth quarterfinal bout.

The current Bellator Paris lineup includes:

  • Fabian Edwards vs. Gegard Mousasi
  • Mansour Barnaoui vs. Sidney Outlaw โ€“ lightweight grand prix quarterfinals
  • Davy Gallon vs. Saul Rogers
  • Thibault Gouti vs. Kane Mousah

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Yoel Romeroย vs. Melvin Manhoef co-headlines Bellator Paris on May 6

Yoel Romero will look to notch his first Bellator win when he meets fellow veteran Melvin Manhoef.

[autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] will look to notch his first Bellator win when he meets a fellow veteran in May.

Romero, a former UFC middleweight title challenger, is set to fight [autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] in the co-main event of Bellator Paris on May 6 at Accor Arena, the promotion announced Thursday.

In his return to light heavyweight, Romero (13-6 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) fell short in his promotional debut when he was edged out by Phil Davis last September at Bellator 266. Romero, 44, now has lost four in a row, with his last win a knockout of Luke Rockhold in February 2018.

Manhoef (32-15-1 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) has won two of his past three bouts since moving back up to 205 pounds. The 45-year-old is coming off a TKO loss to Corey Anderson in the main event of Bellator 251 in November 2020. Prior to that, the former two-time title challenger scored wins over Kent Kauppinen and a first-round TKO of Yannick Bahati.

With the addition, the current Bellator Paris lineup includes:

  • Ryan Bader vs. Cheick Kongo โ€“ for heavyweight title
  • Melvin Manhoef vs. Yoel Romero
  • Soren Bak vs.ย Saul Rogers
  • Gavin Hughes vs. Yves Landu

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