Company attributes
Other attributes
Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California owned and operated as a subsidiary of ViacomCBS. It is one of the largest combat sport promotions in the world and the second largest in the United States. The promotion takes its name from bellātor, the Latin word for "warrior".
Bellator's first event was held in 2009, and the promotion has since held over 200 "numbered" events as of December 2019. The promotion features notable talents such as Vadim Nemkov, Kyoji Horiguchi, Yoel Romero, Yaroslav Amosov, Anthony Johnson, Patrício Pitbull, A. J. McKee, Michael Page, Douglas Lima, and Sergio Pettis. Famed fighters such as Eddie Alvarez, Michael Chandler, Ben Askren, Rory MacDonald, Ryan Bader, Gegard Mousasi, Cris Cyborg and Fedor Emelianenko have also found success under the Bellator umbrella.
History
Bellator was founded in 2008 by Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. Under Rebney's ownership, Bellator events were structured around single-elimination tournaments that awarded the winner a check for $100,000 and a guaranteed world-title fight against a current Bellator world champion in the applicable weight class.[citation needed]
In December 2011, Viacom purchased majority ownership of Bellator.
In May 2014, Bellator hosted the company's inaugural pay-per-view event from the Landers Center.
In June 2014, it was announced that both Chairman/CEO Bjorn Rebney and President Tim Danaher were relieved of their positions. Rebney would be succeeded by Strikeforce founder Scott Coker. Under Coker, Bellator would drop its season-long tournament format in early 2015, transitioning into more of a traditional, single-fight event schedule. Since 2018, Bellator hosts divisional grand-prix tournaments.
Broadcast partners
Since the fourth season in 2011, Bellator cards have been predominantly broadcast on Viacom-owned networks in the United States. Beginning in January 2013, Bellator telecasts were moved from MTV2 to Spike (later relaunched as Paramount Network in 2018) following the end of the latter channel's partnership with the UFC.
In September 2013, Bellator signed a multi-year partnership agreement with Fox Sports Latin America.
On June 26, 2018, Bellator announced a five-year streaming deal with DAZN, covering the U.S. and other markets served by the sports-oriented streaming service. Since Bellator 206, this includes all events aired by Paramount Network, as well as seven exclusive cards per-year.
In March 2020, Bellator announced they had signed a deal with ESPN Brasil to broadcast events in the country.
Following Viacom's re-merger with CBS Corporation in 2019, CBS Sports Network debuted the recap series, Bellator MMA: Recharged, on April 25, 2020. On September 11, 2020, it was announced that Bellator cards would move to CBS Sports Network starting October 1, with preliminary bouts to stream on YouTube and CBSSports.com.
Five months later, on February 9, 2021, it was announced that Bellator events would air exclusively on Showtime beginning with Bellator 255 on April 2, 2021. The following day, it was announced that the BBC would also broadcast Bellator events on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom.
Rankings
Main article: Bellator MMA Rankings
In February 2021, Scott Coker announced that the organization will incorporate official rankings beginning from Bellator 255 in April.