List of Bellator MMA champions

Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class.

At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded Bellator Fighting Championships as a tournament based organization. The inaugural champion for each weight class was determined by the winner of an eight-man tournament. All subsequent title challengers were required to first win an eight-man tournament in a specific weight class in order to earn the right to challenge that division's reigning champion. Dethroned champions were required to re-enter the tournaments in order to attempt to regain their title. Under Bjorn Rebney's sole leadership, Bellator MMA would strictly adhere to these rules during the first four years of its operation.

The first changes to this format would begin to appear not long after Viacom, Inc. purchased a controlling stake in the organization.^[1] In November 2012, CEO Bjorn Rebney announced the introduction of a "championship rematch clause". This would allow Bellator to schedule an immediate title-fight rematch if officials deemed the fight necessary.^[2] The next major change occurred during Bellator's 2013 Summer Series when it was announced that all three tournaments would be shorter, four-man affairs instead of the standard eight.^[3] Though originally stated to return to the eight-man only tournaments afterwards, officials instead decided to add two additional four-man tournaments to the existing tournament lineup in an effort to provide a more consistent flow of title challengers for their champions to face.^[4]

Two additional rule changes would be announced. The first was the "tournament champion replacement clause" introduced in August 2013. This allowed officials to grant title shots to replacement fighters when tournament winners were injured, or otherwise unavailable, through a complex voting and points system.^[5] Then, in June 2014, CEO Bjorn Rebney made an announcement stating that any fighter who had previously won a Bellator tournament would maintain permanent eligibility to fight for a title without having to re-enter another tournament.^[6] Neither of these changes would ever be implemented, however, as one week later Bellator MMA and its founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted ways, bringing about an end to the organization's tournament based model.^[7][8]

Current champions

Men^[9]

Division	Champion	Since	Defenses
Heavyweight	Vacant	May 14, 2016
Light Heavyweight	Phil Davis	November 4, 2016	0
Middleweight	Rafael Carvalho	October 23, 2015	1
Welterweight	Douglas Lima	November 10, 2016	0
Lightweight	Michael Chandler	June 24, 2016	1
Featherweight	Daniel Straus	November 6, 2015	0
Bantamweight	Eduardo Dantas	June 17, 2016	1

Men's Championship history

Heavyweight Championship

206 to 265 lbs (93 to 120 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Cole Konrad def. Neil Grove	Bellator 32 Kansas City, MO, USA	October 14, 2010	699 days	1. def. Eric Prindle at Bellator 70 on May 25, 2012
Konrad vacated the title on September 12, 2012 when he retired from MMA competition.[10]
2	Alexander Volkov def. Rich Hale	Bellator 84 Hammond, IN, USA	December 14, 2012	337 days
3	Vitaly Minakov	Bellator 108 Atlantic City, NJ, USA	November 15, 2013	911 days	1. def. Cheick Kongo at Bellator 115 on Apr 4, 2014
Minakov was stripped of the title on May 14, 2016 after failing to make title defenses.[11]

Light Heavyweight Championship

186 to 205 lbs (84 to 93 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Christian M'Pumbu def. Rich Hale	Bellator 45 Lake Charles, LA, USA	May 21, 2011	650 days
2	Attila Végh	Bellator 91 Rio Rancho, NM, USA	February 28, 2013	387 days
-	Emanuel Newton def. Muhammed Lawal for interim title	Bellator 106 Long Beach, CA, USA	November 2, 2013	—
3	Emanuel Newton	Bellator 113 Mulvane, KS, USA	March 21, 2014	343 days	1. def. Joey Beltran at Bellator 124 on Sep 12, 2014 2. def. Linton Vassell at Bellator 130 on Oct 24, 2014
4	Liam McGeary	Bellator 134 Uncasville, CT, USA	February 27, 2015	617 days	1. def. Tito Ortiz at Bellator 142: Dynamite 1 on Sep 19, 2015
5	Phil Davis	Bellator 163 Uncasville, CT, USA	November 4, 2016	31 days (incumbent)

Middleweight Championship

171 to 185 lbs (77 to 84 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Hector Lombard def. Jared Hess	Bellator 12 Hollywood, FL, USA	June 19, 2009	1,040 days	1. def. Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 34 on Oct 28, 2010
Lombard vacated the title on April 24, 2012 when he left Bellator for the UFC.[12]
2	Alexander Shlemenko def. Maiquel Falcão	Bellator 88 Duluth, GA, USA	February 7, 2013	597 days	1. def. Brett Cooper at Bellator 98 on Sep 7, 2013 2. def. Doug Marshall at Bellator 109 on Nov 22, 2013 3. def. Brennan Ward at Bellator 114 on Mar 28, 2014
3	Brandon Halsey	Bellator 126 Phoenix, AZ, USA	September 26, 2014	230 days
Halsey was stripped of the title on May 14, 2015 after failing to make weight for his Bellator 137 title defense.[13]
4	Rafael Carvalho def. Brandon Halsey	Bellator 144 Uncasville, CT, USA	October 23, 2015	409 days (incumbent)	1. def. Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 155 on May 20, 2016

Welterweight Championship

156 to 170 lbs (70 to 77 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Lyman Good def. Omar de la Cruz	Bellator 11 Uncasville, CT, USA	June 12, 2009	485 days
2	Ben Askren	Bellator 33 Philadelphia, PA, USA	October 21, 2010	1120 days	1. def. Jay Hieron at Bellator 56 on Oct 29, 2011 2. def. Douglas Lima at Bellator 64 on Apr 6, 2012 3. def. Karl Amoussou at Bellator 86 on Jan 24, 2013 4. def. Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 97 on Jul 31, 2013
Title vacated on November 14, 2013 when Askren was released from Bellator.[14]
3	Douglas Lima def. Rick Hawn	Bellator 117 Council Bluffs, IA, USA	April 18, 2014	455 days
4	Andrey Koreshkov	Bellator 140 Uncasville, CT, USA	July 17, 2015	482 days	1. def. Benson Henderson at Bellator 153 on April 22, 2016
5	Douglas Lima (2)	Bellator 164 Tel Aviv, Israel	November 10, 2016	25 days (incumbent)

Lightweight Championship

146 to 155 lbs (66 to 70 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Eddie Alvarez def. Toby Imada	Bellator 12 Hollywood, FL, USA	June 19, 2009	883 days	1. def. Pat Curran at Bellator 39 on Apr 2, 2011
2	Michael Chandler	Bellator 58 Hollywood, FL, USA	November 19, 2011	715 days	1. def. Rick Hawn at Bellator 85 on Jan 17, 2013 2. def. David Rickels at Bellator 97 on Jul 31, 2013
3	Eddie Alvarez (2)	Bellator 106 Long Beach, CA, USA	November 2, 2013	290 days (1,173 days)
-	Will Brooks def. Michael Chandler for interim title	Bellator 120 Southaven, MS, USA	May 17, 2014	—
Title was vacated on August 19, 2014 when Alvarez was granted a release from the promotion.[15]
4	Will Brooks def. Michael Chandler for undisputed title	Bellator 131 San Diego, CA, USA	November 15, 2014	546 days	1. def. Dave Jansen at Bellator 136 on Apr 10, 2015 2. def. Marcin Held at Bellator 145 on Nov 6, 2015
Title was vacated on May 14, 2016 when Brooks was granted a release from the promotion.[16]
5	Michael Chandler (2) def. Patricky Freire for vacant title	Bellator 157 St. Louis, MO, USA	June 24, 2016	164 days (incumbent)	1. def. Benson Henderson at Bellator 165 on Nov 19, 2016

Featherweight Championship

136 to 145 lbs (61 to 66 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Joe Soto def. Yahir Reyes	Bellator 10 Ontario, CA, USA	June 5, 2009	454 days
2	Joe Warren	Bellator 27 San Antonio, TX, USA	September 2, 2010	554 days
3	Pat Curran	Bellator 60 Hammond, IN, USA	March 9, 2012	604 days	1. def. Patrício Freire at Bellator 85 on Jan 17, 2013 2. def. Shahbulat Shamhalaev at Bellator 95 on Apr 4, 2013
4	Daniel Mason-Straus	Bellator 106 Long Beach, CA, USA	November 2, 2013	133 days
5	Pat Curran (2)	Bellator 112 Hammond, IN, USA	March 14, 2014	176 days (780 days)
6	Patrício Freire	Bellator 123 Uncasville, CT, USA	September 5, 2014	428 days	1. def. Daniel Mason-Straus at Bellator 132 on Jan 16, 2015 2. def. Daniel Weichel at Bellator 138 on Jun 19, 2015
7	Daniel Mason-Straus (2)	Bellator 145 St. Louis, MO, USA	November 6, 2015	395 days (incumbent)

Bantamweight Championship

126 to 135 lbs (57 to 61 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Zach Makovsky def. Ed West	Bellator 32 Kansas City, MO, USA	October 14, 2010	547 days
2	Eduardo Dantas	Bellator 65 Atlantic City, NJ, USA	April 13, 2012	911 days	1. def. Marcos Galvão at Bellator 89 on Feb 14, 2013 2. def. Anthony Leone at Bellator 111 on Mar 8, 2014
-	Joe Warren def. Rafael Silva for interim title	Bellator 118 Atlantic City, NJ, USA	May 2, 2014	—
3	Joe Warren	Bellator 128 Thackerville, OK, USA	October 10, 2014	169 days
4	Marcos Galvão	Bellator 135 Thackerville, OK, USA	March 27, 2015	448 days
5	Eduardo Dantas (2)	Bellator 156 Fresno, CA, USA	June 17, 2016	171 days (incumbent)	1. def. Joe Warren at Bellator 166 on Dec 2, 2016

Women's Championship history

Women's Strawweight Championship

106 pounds (48 kg) to 115 pounds (52 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Zoila Gurgel def. Megumi Fujii	Bellator 34 Hollywood, FL, USA	October 28, 2010	831 days
Gurgel vacated the title on February 5, 2013 when she left Bellator for Invicta FC.[17]

Kickboxing Championship history

Welterweight Championship

156 pounds (71 kg) to 170 pounds (77 kg)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Karim Ghajji def. Mustapha Haida	Bellator 152 Torino, Italy	April 16, 2016	154 days
2	Zoltán Laszák	Bellator Kickboxing 3 Budapest, Hungary	September 17, 2016	79 days (incumbent)

Tournament Winners

Originally, all title challengers were determined through these tournaments with the winners earning the right to challenge the reigning champion at that weight class or, if necessary, be allowed to compete for an interim or vacant title.

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season One

(April 3, 2009 - June 19, 2009)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Featherweight1[›]	Joe Soto	Yahir Reyes	Bellator 10	June 5, 2009
Welterweight2[›]	Lyman Good	Omar De La Cruz	Bellator 11	June 12, 2009
Middleweight3[›]	Hector Lombard	Jared Hess	Bellator 12	June 19, 2009
Lightweight4[›]	Eddie Alvarez	Toby Imada	Bellator 12	June 19, 2009

^ 1: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Featherweight Champion.
^ 2: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Welterweight Champion.
^ 3: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Middleweight Champion.
^ 4: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Lightweight Champion.

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Two

(April 8, 2010 - June 24, 2010)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Lightweight	Pat Curran	Toby Imada	Bellator 21	June 10, 2010
Welterweight	Ben Askren	Dan Hornbuckle	Bellator 22	June 17, 2010
Middleweight	Alexander Shlemenko	Bryan Baker	Bellator 23	June 24, 2010
Featherweight	Joe Warren	Patricio Freire	Bellator 23	June 24, 2010

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Three

(August 12, 2010 - October 28, 2010)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Heavyweight1[›]	Cole Konrad	Neil Grove	Bellator 32	October 14, 2010
Bantamweight2[›]	Zach Makovsky	Ed West	Bellator 32	October 14, 2010
Women's Strawweight3[›]	Zoila Gurgel	Megumi Fujii	Bellator 34	October 28, 2010

^ 1: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Heavyweight Champion.
^ 2: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Bantamweight Champion.
^ 3: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Women's Strawweight Champion.

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Four

(March 5, 2011 - May 21, 2011)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Welterweight	Jay Hieron	Rick Hawn	Bellator 43	May 7, 2011
Lightweight	Michael Chandler	Patricky Freire	Bellator 44	May 14, 2011
Light Heavyweight1[›]	Christian M'Pumbu	Richard Hale	Bellator 45	May 21, 2011
Featherweight	Patrício Freire	Daniel Mason-Straus	Bellator 45	May 21, 2011

^ 1: Tournament determined the inaugural Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion.

Bellator Fighting Championships: 2011 Summer Series

(June 25, 2011 - August 20, 2011)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Featherweight	Pat Curran	Marlon Sandro	Bellator 48	August 20, 2011

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Five

(September 27, 2011 - November 26, 2011)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Middleweight1[›]	Alexander Shlemenko	Vitor Vianna	Bellator 57	November 12, 2011
Welterweight	Douglas Lima	Ben Saunders	Bellator 57	November 12, 2011
Bantamweight	Eduardo Dantas	Alexis Vila	Bellator 59	November 26, 2011
Heavyweight2[›]	Eric Prindle	Thiago Santos	Bellator 62	March 23, 2012

^ 1: Shlemenko next faced Season Six tournament winner Maiquel Falcão for the vacant middleweight title.
^ 2: Following a no contest in the finals at Bellator 59, a rematch between Prindle and Santos was cancelled at Bellator 61, and again at Bellator 62 when Santos was unable to make weight. Prindle was awarded the tournament victory.^[18]

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Six

(March 9, 2012 - May 25, 2012)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Featherweight	Daniel Mason-Straus	Marlon Sandro	Bellator 68	May 11, 2012
Middleweight1[›]	Maiquel Falcão	Andreas Spang	Bellator 69	May 18, 2012
Lightweight	Rick Hawn	Brent Weedman	Bellator 70	May 25, 2012
Welterweight	Karl Amoussou	Bryan Baker	Bellator 72	July 20, 2012
Bantamweight	Marcos Galvao	Luis Nogueira	Bellator 73	August 24, 2012

^ 1: Falcão next faced Season Five tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko for the vacant middleweight title.

Bellator Fighting Championships: 2012 Summer Series

(June 22, 2012 - July 24, 2012)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Light Heavyweight	Attila Vegh	Travis Wiuff	Bellator 73	August 24, 2012

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Seven

(September 28, 2012 - December 14, 2012)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Welterweight	Andrey Koreshkov	Lyman Good	Bellator 82	November 30, 2012
Heavyweight1[›]	Alexander Volkov	Richard Hale	Bellator 84	December 14, 2012
Featherweight	Shahbulat Shamhalaev	Rad Martinez	Bellator 90	February 21, 2013
Lightweight2[›]	Dave Jansen	Marcin Held	Bellator 93	March 21, 2013

^ 1: Tournament determined the new Bellator Heavyweight champion.
^ 2: After an extended layoff due to injury, Jansen would choose to forfeit his title shot for the opportunity to take an immediate fight upon his return.^[19]

Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Eight

(January 17, 2013 - April 4, 2013)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Light Heavyweight1[›]	Emanuel Newton	Mikhail Zayats	Bellator 94	March 28, 2013
Lightweight	David Rickels	Saad Awad	Bellator 94	March 28, 2013
Middleweight	Doug Marshall	Brett Cooper	Bellator 95	April 4, 2013
Featherweight2[›]	Magomedrasul Khasbulaev	Mike Richman	Bellator 95	April 4, 2013
Welterweight3[›]	Douglas Lima	Ben Saunders	Bellator 100	September 20, 2013

^ 1: Newton next faced 2013 Summer Series tournament winner Muhammed Lawal for the Interim Light Heavyweight title.
^ 2: After repeated visa issues prevented Khasbulaev from returning to the USA to claim his title shot, the fighter was granted his release from the pomotion in December 2014.^[20]
^ 3: Lima next faced Season Nine tournament winner Rick Hawn for the vacant welterweight title.

Bellator Fighting Championships: 2013 Summer Series

(June 19, 2013 - July 31, 2013)
All three tournaments were shortened, four-man tournaments instead of the standard eight.

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Heavyweight	Vitaly Minakov	Ryan Martinez	Bellator 97	July 31, 2013
Light Heavyweight1[›]	Muhammed Lawal	Jacob Noe	Bellator 97	July 31, 2013
Bantamweight2[›]	Rafael Silva	Anthony Leone	Bellator 102	October 4, 2013

^ 1: Lawal next faced Season Eight tournament winner Emanuel Newton for the Interim Light Heavyweight title.
^ 2: Silva next faced Season Nine tournament winner Joe Warren for the Interim Bantamweight title.

Bellator MMA: Season Nine

(September 7, 2013 - November 22, 2013)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Heavyweight1[›]	Cheick Kongo	Peter Graham	Bellator 107	November 8, 2013
Middleweight	Brennan Ward	Mikkel Parlo	Bellator 107	November 8, 2013
Bantamweight1[›]2[›]	Joe Warren	Travis Marx	Bellator 107	November 8, 2013
Featherweight	Patrício Freire	Justin Wilcox	Bellator 108	November 15, 2013
Welterweight3[›]	Rick Hawn	Ron Keslar	Bellator 109	November 22, 2013
Lightweight4[›]	Will Brooks	Alexander Sarnavskiy	Bellator 109	November 22, 2013

^ 1: Tournament was a shortened, four-man tournament instead of the standard eight.
^ 2: Warren next faced 2013 Summer Series tournament winner Rafael Silva for the Interim Bantamweight title.
^ 3: Hawn next faced Season Eight tournament winner Douglas Lima for the vacant welterweight title.
^ 4: Brooks next faced former champion Michael Chandler for the Interim Lightweight Championship at Bellator 120. Chandler was originally scheduled for an immediate rematch with champion Eddie Alvarez at the event.^[21]

Bellator MMA: Season Ten

(February 28, 2014 – May 17, 2014)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Featherweight3[›]	Daniel Weichel	Desmond Green	Bellator 119	May 9, 2014
Heavyweight3[›]	Alexander Volkov	Blagoy Ivanov	Bellator 120	May 17, 2014
Light Heavyweight1[›]2[›]	Quinton Jackson	Muhammed Lawal	Bellator 120	May 17, 2014
Middleweight1[›]	Brandon Halsey	Brett Cooper	Bellator 122	July 25, 2014
Welterweight	Andrey Koreshkov	Adam McDonough	Bellator 122	July 25, 2014
Lightweight3[›]	Marcin Held	Patricky Freire	Bellator 126	September 26, 2014

^ 1: Tournament was a shortened, four-man tournament instead of the standard eight.
^ 2: Jackson would end up leaving Bellator MMA for the UFC and never claim his title shot.^[22]
^ 3: Despite initial assurances to the contrary,^[23][24] Bellator's new management would not honor the title shots Volkov, Weichel and Held earned while under the tournament format.

Bellator MMA: 2014 Summer Series

(June 6, 2014 – July 25, 2014)

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Light Heavyweight	Liam McGeary	Kelly Anundson	Bellator 124	September 14, 2014

Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1

(September 19, 2015)
A one night, four-man light heavyweight tournament.

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date
Light Heavyweight	Phil Davis	Francis Carmont	Bellator 142: Dynamite 1	September 19, 2015

Champions by nationality

Division champions include title holders and interim title holders. Interim champions who become undisputed champions are listed only once. Tournament runners-up are not included.

Country	Division champions	Tournament champions	Total
United States	20	27	47
Brazil	5	8	13
Russia	4	9	13
Cuba	1	1	2
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1	1	2
England	1	1	2
France	-	2	2
Slovakia	1	1	2
Germany	-	1	1
Poland	-	1	1

Multi-division Champions

Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes.^[25] Tournament champions are not included.

Champion	Division	Won	Lost	Defenses	Reign	Total reign
Joe Warren	Featherweight	Sep 2, 2010 (Bellator 27)	Mar 9, 2012 (Bellator 60)	0	554 days	723 days
	Bantamweight (interim champion)	May 2, 2014 (Bellator 118)	October 10, 2014 (Bellator 128)	0	-
	Bantamweight	October 10, 2014 (Bellator 128)	March 27, 2015 (Bellator 135)	0	169 days

Most consecutive title defenses

The following includes all Bellator champions who were able to consecutively defend their title two times or more. Fighters with the same number of title defenses are listed chronologically.

Defenses	Champion	Weight class	Span
4	Ben Askren	Welterweight	Oct 21, 2010 - July 31, 2013
3	Alexander Shlemenko	Middleweight	Feb 7, 2013 - Sep 26, 2014
2	Michael Chandler	Lightweight	Nov 19, 2011 - Nov 2, 2013
	Pat Curran	Featherweight	Mar 9, 2012 - Nov 2, 2013
	Eduardo Dantas	Bantamweight	Feb 14, 2013 - Oct 10, 2014
	Emanuel Newton	Light Heavyweight	Mar 21, 2013 - Feb 27, 2015
	Patrício Freire	Featherweight	Sep 5, 2014 - Nov 6, 2015
	Will Brooks	Lightweight	Nov 15, 2014 - May 14, 2016

Most wins in title bouts

The following includes all fighters with three or more championship and/or interim championship title wins. Fighters with the same number of title wins are arranged in order of most title bouts. Tournament championships are not included.

Title wins	Champion	Weight class	Record in title bouts (Win-Loss-Draw)
5	Ben Askren	Welterweight	5 - 0 - 0
	Michael Chandler	Lightweight	5 - 3 - 0
4	Pat Curran	Lightweight Featherweight	0 - 1 - 0 4 - 2 - 0
	Alexander Shlemenko	Middleweight	4 - 2 - 0
	Eduardo Dantas	Bantamweight	4 - 1 - 0
	Emanuel Newton	Light Heavyweight	4 - 1 - 0
	Will Brooks	Lightweight	4 - 0 - 0
3	Patrício Freire	Featherweight	3 - 2 - 0
	Joe Warren	Featherweight Bantamweight	1 - 1 - 0 2 - 1 - 0
	Eddie Alvarez	Lightweight	3 - 1 - 0

See also

• List of current mixed martial arts champions
• List of UFC champions
• List of current Bellator fighters
• List of Bellator events
• List of current WSOF fighters
• List of current WSOF-Global fighters
• Mixed martial arts weight classes

References