All fighters Bellator has signed from UFC

Guile

Guile

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Bellator is slowly but surely picking up steam by signing some UFC talent. While some and many are 'out of their prime', this is still great for Bellator. It is great for UFC to have competition again ala the Pride/Strikeforce days. Here is a list of talent that Bellator has signed/stolen from UFC over the last few years or so.

-Tito Ortiz (retired)
-Rampage Jackson
-Chuck Liddell?
-Dan Henderson?
-Chael Sonnen
-Rory MacDonald
-Wanderlei Silva
-Cheick Kongo
-Benson Henderson
-Josh Thomson
-Roy Nelson
-Matt Mitrione
-Michael McDonald
-Ryan Bader
-Phil Davis
-Noad Lahat
-Justin Lawrence
-Joey Beltran
-Stephan Bonnar
-Alessio Sakara
-Melvin Guillard
-Kendall Grove
-Kevin Casey
-Mike Rhodes
-Valerie Letourneau
-Josh Koscheck
-Lorenz Larkin

Some of you may consider many of these guys to be cans but if anything I'm glad that fighters are opting to leave the UFC in search of more money in which they deserve. It's great to see Bellator slowly building its roster to in which most casual fans will eventually recognize them as a near competitor to the UFC. The only problem I have with Bellator is that their matchmaking can be just awful at times but given how shallow the divisions are as far as numbers go, its only a matter of time before the top talent faces each other.. (MVP).... Lets hope Scott Coker keeps doing great things with Bellator.
 
I'd pump the brakes on Chuck and Hendo for now.
 
I highly doubt Beltran, Casey or Rhodes went to Bellator because the UFC didn't pay enough. They were cut. I don't get it.
 
Soon TRT Vitor and maybe Moose.
 
jeicex said:
I'd pump the brakes on Chuck and Hendo for now.
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thats why i put the ? They have been at recent Bellator events doing signing though.. Chuck has shown interest in possibly fighting again and if Coker can get Royce Gracie of all people to fight again then it is not crazy to assume Hendo will fight again, possibly even against Chuck in a dream match we never got.
 
WallyBear said:
I highly doubt Beltran, Casey or Rhodes went to Bellator because the UFC didn't pay enough. They were cut. I don't get it.
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Yes but Im just stating talent that was in UFC that Bellator signed.
 
Can't you be cyborg and vitor next.

Moose is a long shot as he is probably looking to make that hunt money. I don't think he is work 400+ to bellator.
 
Guile said:
Yes but Im just stating talent that was in UFC that Bellator signed.
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Well if you're doing former org talent to go to another org, it should only be fair if you put Bellator fighters that went to the UFC. And also, you should include a heading of "cut by the UFC" for those fighters because it's very very different for the comparison.
 
jeicex said:
Well if you're doing former org talent to go to another org, it should only be fair if you put Bellator fighters that went to the UFC. And also, you should include a heading of "cut by the UFC" for those fighters because it's very very different for the comparison.
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stop nitpicking. They signed these talents after they had a run in UFC making them more popular than the average Bellator fighter.
 
AGEZ909 said:
Can't you be cyborg and vitor next.

Moose is a long shot as he is probably looking to make that hunt money. I don't think he is work 400+ to bellator.
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If I was Bellator id gun for Moose as their MW division is severely lacking right now since Alessio Sakara is fighting for the title next..
 
Guile said:
If I was Bellator id gun for Moose as their MW division is severely lacking right now since Alessio Sakara is fighting for the title next..
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Exactly right, MW is their weakest division and adding Moose helps a lot
 
That's a lot of UFC signings. Vitor, Mousasi, and Cyborg could be next.
 
it used to be fighter that are not doing well in UFC, moves to bellator

now we have Rory, Lorenz, Benson and possibly gegard moving to bellator.

this is huge.

now they are also making Wand vs Chael, which probably the biggest fight outside UFC.
 
Even if some consider members of that list "cans," those cans have names and if homegrown Bellator fighters beat those cans it builds their name and seemingly legitimizes Bellator's roster to casual fans. This is what Coker did in Strikeforce, and we gained several guys who were up and coming back then who eventually turned into killers in the UFC. Coker knows what he's doing, the next five years should be fun.
 
I like the Former UFC Fighters VS. Up And Comers angle.

Pico vs. Bendo (book it)
 
Pem123 said:
it used to be fighter that are not doing well in UFC, moves to bellator

now we have Rory, Lorenz, Benson and possibly gegard moving to bellator.

this is huge.

now they are also making Wand vs Chael, which probably the biggest fight outside UFC.
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Bellator is going to need a signing like Rousey, Jones, or McGregor if they truly want to compete with the UFC. These are talented fighters, but they won't bring much more eyes to the product.
 
TheBrownRanger said:
Bellator is going to need a signing like Rousey, Jones, or McGregor if they truly want to compete with the UFC. These are talented fighters, but they won't bring much more eyes to the product.
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I'm not totally sure that is true, I actually see people like Rousey and Conor as kinda detrimental in the long run. The UFC put a ton of money into Rousey and she is completely irrelevant now. I honestly think Conor is not going to fight more than 2-3 more times in the UFC ever (It will take several years to get to 2-3 fights for Conor nowadays). I really believe having solid all around cards is the best way to go. Look at boxing, the top guys make serious money... but overall the sport continues to die.

P.S. You would think Jones would be a huge draw due to his talent but he actually isn't a huge draw for some reason :/
 
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