The official end of Bellator MMA (originally known as Bellator Fighting Championships from its debut in 2009 through 2012), coupled with the constant news of former Bellator fighters expressing their discontent with the PFL, has definitely brought on a wave of nostalgia for me – perhaps a bigger wave than I would have imagined.
I’m extremely grateful for my time as a Bellator play-by-play commentator, which spanned 127 events and (somehow) exactly 1,250 fights from 2010 through 2015. One to never keep track of things like this, I went back and counted for this article. Even though I had already commentated Pride and M1 Global, when Bellator founder Bjorn Rebney hired me in November 2009, he gave me a gig that fully shifted me from being a soccer commentator to a fight commentator – which is exactly what I wanted, and for which I will always be extremely grateful.
The announcement of Patricio Freire – arguably the greatest fighter in Bellator history and inarguably the fighter with the best-ever Bellator career – signing with the UFC definitely created a conversation about which other Bellator alumni could soon make this move. This also has opened up discussions about which now-retired Bellator greats could have gone to the UFC had they been given the chance, or seized the opportunity presented.
Numerous fighters before “Pitbull” did, of course, go on to sign with the UFC after they were in Bellator. There are well known examples such as Eddie Alvarez, Michael Chandler, Hector Lombard, Ben Askren, and Alexander Volkov; and those who might come as a surprise to many MMA fans such as Anthony Smith, Jorge Masvidal, Holly Holm, Jake Ellenberger, and Derrick Lewis.
And, of course, there were many established UFC fighters, as well, who came to Bellator later in their careers such as Quinton Jackson, Cris Cyborg, Rory MacDonald, Tito Ortiz, and Frank Mir.
Beyond all of this, thousands of Bellator fighters were never under contract to the UFC, a select few of whom had the opportunity to make the move but chose to fully devote themselves to Bellator.
With Bellator having now officially gone the way of numerous MMA organizations that have come before (and since Art Davie launched the UFC on November 2, 1993), I’ve compiled my very subjective and extremely un-scientific list of the 25 greatest fighters in Bellator history who never fought in the UFC.
A few caveats though before my list:
- First, as Patricio Pitbull has not yet made his UFC debut, I’m including him.
- Second, I’m basing this solely on what these women and men did in Bellator – not what they did before or after in their careers. Thus, truly great fighters such as Fedor Emelianenko, Megumi Fujii, Marlon Sandro, Marloes Coenen, and Shinya Aoki are not included because their Bellator careers did not match their brilliant overall careers.
- Next, I’ve listed everyone alphabetically by last name. A top 25 is daunting enough without then having to rank everyone one through 25. I have a lot of friends on this list, and that is a losing game which I’m choosing not to play.
- Also, I’m noting Bellator records and accomplishments for all Bellator events, including the two Bellator-Rizin co-promotes in Japan and the five Bellator Champions Series cards, which took place after the PFL purchase. The sole exception is PFL vs. Bellator from February 2024, which I consider a PFL event (as does Tapology).
- And finally, to reiterate what I wrote above, this is a completely subjective list. The first few were very easy. The final cuts were brutal in getting to exactly 25.
With all of this in mind, and in fond memory of the late (and sometimes great) Bellator Fighting Championships/Bellator MMA, here’s my list of the 25 greatest fighters in Bellator history who never fought in the UFC.
