Bellator Light Heavyweight Division Breakdown

[FKA]

I will be breaking down Bellators Light Heavyweight weight division into 3 groups.....
1)Top 5
2)Top 10
3)Midtier/up and comers

The 205lb Division has always housed some good homegrown talent with a few aged big names but now it definitely is one of the most improved divisions.....let's take a look.



BELLATOR 205 DIVISION TOP 5
(No particular order)

1)Ryan Bader (23-5)
2)Phil Davis (17-4)
3)Linton Vassell (18-5)
4)Liam Mcgeary (12-2)
5)King Mo (21-6)

Bader is another big name free agency grab and is in his prime.He has the toolset to hold the belt but faces some interesting tests in Bellator.

Davis is the original big name signing free agent and the former champ who has looked good in Bellator and is looking to get back to title talks with a win soon.

Vassell has always had an elite ground game but struggled with cardio and standup.....he has addressed those issues and looks like a solid contender for the belt with a signature win.

Mcgeary is former champ and possesses ko power and an awkward yet highly effective bjj game.He is still tightening things up but is still in the mix at the top of the pack.

King Mo is King of the tourney and king of the moneyweight title lol.He has great power wrestling and of course the jeff mayweather boxing game and will fight anyone at lhw or hw and is seemingly always in the mix for the title.


Bellator 205 Top 10
(No particular order)

1)Rampage Jackson (37-12)
2)Alessio Sakara (19-11)
3)Francis Carmont (25-12)
4)Phillipe Lins (10-3)
5)Vadim Nemkov (8-2)


Rampage is a legend but not exactly in top form.He still has heavy hands and is a fan favorite and still down to bang with anyone willing to trade.

Sakara seen a career resurgence and has looked pretty good finishing opponents.His kickboxing is a bit better and power is still there he's a tough fighter.

Carmont has a well rounded game but struggled against the top guys in Bellator.With some consistency he could jump up but needs a win over a good name.

Phillipe Lins has vicious standup and a good ground game but has had a few setbacks while tuning his skills.He tends to get lured into rockem sockem fights instead of technical striking where he shines.With focus he could be a top 5 guy.

Vadim Nemkov is one of my favorite young guns and has proved at his young age he's a war hardened veteran.Watch his fights in the RizinGp and his finish debut in Bellator to see what i mean.He will be a big name soon Imo.

BELLATOR MID TIER/UP & COMERS(No particular order)

Chael Sonnen and Wandy are not counted cuz they can barely fight ok lol

Rafael Feijao (13-7)
Jarod Trice (2-0)
Tyree Fortune (3-0)
Virgil Zwicker (16-6-1)
Satoshi Ishii (15-8)
Guilherme Viana (7-3)
Vladimir Filiplovic (9-2)
Lukasz Klinger (8-4)
Chris Fields (11-7)


Feijao won a Bellator contract by finish in Bellator feeder league.He still has power and a submission game its his cardio that has been his dowfall we shall see how he does back in the big leagues.

Trice is one of the SAVAGE SEVEN and tho his last fight was at Hw he has plans to drop to 205 eventually.He has great wrestling and smothering top game but is still very green to MMA and is a work in progress.Will be fun to see him evolve.

Tyree is the twin of Tyrell Fortune the Hw member of the SAVAGE SEVEN.Tyree stopped wrestling after highschool to focus on his amateur MMA career he is well rounded and is evolving just like his brother it will be cool seeing the bros progress together.

Zwicker is a kill or be killed fighter,every fight is FOTN contender and he can take as much as he can dish.Powerful kickboxer with decent wrestling hes a gate keeper but a bad ass one haha.

Ishii has had struggles his whole mma career getting big wins and truly using his tools to his full potential.His judo is high level and striking is ok but he never seems to have a real gameplan and is generally boring.With tweaks he could be a solid mid tier guy but its unlikely this far into his career.

Viana has a fast paced striking style and solid bjj game and has looked pretty good in Bellator he needs a big win to break through.

 

[FKA]

My assessment....

The lhw division has some big names and some solid mid tier talent that can be solidly built upon.This division is much deeper then in years past and houses some of Bellators premiere homegrown and free agent acquired talent but still needs some attention.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

It's come a long way from the M'Pumbu era, that's for sure.

Anybody know what happened to Kleber SIlva? The Brazilian that KO'd Philipe Lins in Italy?

 

[FKA]

• Hes not on an exclusive contract so not sure buddy

 

[mime]

thanks for spending the time to put this together,
just a few notes:
- chael hasnt looked good but i bet he can still beat a few guys in the mid tier
- sakara is a MW and will fight for the MW title next
- Ishii is a HW right? has he ever fought at lhw? not sure
- rampage cannot cut to lhw anymore and im not sure he even has fights left on his contract anymore?

 

[WarriorPoet1]

thanks for spending the time to put this together,
just a few notes:
- chael hasnt looked good but i bet he can still beat a few guys in the mid tier
- sakara is a MW and will fight for the MW title next

- rampage cannot cut to lhw anymore and im not sure he even has fights left on his contract anymore?

Sakara has only fought at 205 in Bellator so the TS is weird
Chael's said hes working his way back to MW (or would like to)
not sure it matters but Zwickers last fight was at HW
Francis quietly retired on social media after his last loss

 

[FKA]

thanks for spending the time to put this together,
just a few notes:
- chael hasnt looked good but i bet he can still beat a few guys in the mid tier
- sakara is a MW and will fight for the MW title next
- Ishii is a HW right? has he ever fought at lhw? not sure
- rampage cannot cut to lhw anymore and im not sure he even has fights left on his contract anymore?

Hey I'm going strictly off of their own listings lol i know in Bellator guys have more freedom to jump weights so i just go with official listings but great feedback i appreciate bud.

 

[skylolow]

Maybe you should run Bellator.

I sure the hell know you know more about the fighters in the LHW division than Scott Coker does. I look at Coker match making through most of his career and all I can do is sit here and think WTF. The guy is all over the board and rarely does he have any flow to any of his divisions.

 

[Narddawg]

With Jones looking at another suspension, rumble retired, and Cormier getting older I could see the argument for bellator having the better LHW division, or at least the better top 5.

 

[FKA]

[UPDATE]

Bellator just signed former Hw and Lhw LFA Champion,undefeated fighter (10-0) Leonardo Leite

 

[tehMoose]

[UPDATE]

Bellator just signed former Hw and Lhw LFA Champion,undefeated fighter (10-0) Leonardo Leite

Age: 39
They should book him against Feijao. Don't waste his time against no name fighters.

 

[Falconkick]

It's come a long way from the M'Pumbu era, that's for sure.

Anybody know what happened to Kleber SIlva? The Brazilian that KO'd Philipe Lins in Italy?

He beat Konstantin Gluhov via decision in M-1 after beating Lins. The dude has a great finishing rate and should be fighting more. Bellator does that with certain fighters.. Andre Santos, Gregory Babine Kleber Silva, and Ben Reiter should be fighting more for them.

 

[InfinityLens]

thanks for spending the time to put this together,
just a few notes:
- chael hasnt looked good but i bet he can still beat a few guys in the mid tier
- sakara is a MW and will fight for the MW title next
- Ishii is a HW right? has he ever fought at lhw? not sure
- rampage cannot cut to lhw anymore and im not sure he even has fights left on his contract anymore?

What is the deal with Rampage anyway?

 

[FKA]

He is unsure himself.

His contract with Bellator is over and now his contract with UFC is in place.The one he signed when he fought Maldonado.But....

He's unsure if the new brass will honor the deal.If they dont hes a free agent in which case i'm sure Bellator resigns him.

Its all up to the ufc i guess.