The Champ-
Rafael Carvalho (12-1)
Carvalho made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Julio Cesar Araujo Fernandes on December 17, 2011 at Samurai FC 6. Carvalho lost the fight via submission in the first round. Following the loss, Carvalho went on a nine-fight unbeaten streak that included a unanimous decision win over Gustavo
Machado that won him the Smash Fight middleweight championship before signing with Bellator MMA.
Carvalho faced kickboxing veteran Joe Schilling on April 10, 2015 at Bellator 136. He won the fight by split decision.
Carvalho faced Brandon
Halsey in the main event at Bellator 144 for the a vacant Bellator Middleweight Championship. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
The Former Champion-
Brandon "Bull" Halsey (9-1)
After winning his first two fights, Halsey was signed by Bellator and made his debut against Rocky Ramirez at Bellator 92 on March 7, 2013. Halsey won by technical submission after choking Ramirez unconscious with an arm-triangle choke in the third round.
Halsey faced Alexander
Shlemenko for the
Middleweight Championship on September 26, 2014 at Bellator
126. Halsey won the bout via technical submission in the first round to become the new Bellator Middleweight Champion.
Halsey was expected to make his first title defense against Kendall Grove on May 15, 2015 at Bellator 137. However, Halsey failed to make weight and was subsequently stripped of the middleweight championship with the bout being a championship fight for Grove only. Halsey won the fight via TKO in the fourth round.
The KO trio
Melvin "No Mercy" Manhoef (30-12-1-2)
At Dynamite!! 2008 Melvin fought Mark Hunt as a late alternate at heavyweight, despite usually functioning at two weight classes below his opponent. Regardless of the size disadvantage, he knocked down the iron-jawed Samoan in 18 seconds and followed with punches as he was postured over Hunt, until the referee stopped the fight. It was the first time Hunt was finished by knockout in his MMA career.
Manhoef made his Bellator debut against Doug
Marshall, in a middleweight bout, at Bellator
125 on 19 September 2014. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.
http://youtu.be/YvA0bhS63_c
Hisaki "the Japanese Musketeer" Kato (5-2)
Kato made his professional debut in March 2013. In the first two years of his career, Kato competed exclusively for the Japan-based promotion, Heat. He compiled a 4–1 record, which included a first-round TKO of Yuki Niimura to win the vacant Heat middleweight championship.
Kato faced Joe Schilling in his promotional and United States debut at Bellator
139 on June 26, 2015. Despite being a sizable underdog, Kato won the bout in highlight-reel fashion, knocking out the seasoned kickboxer with a superman punch early in the second round.
http://youtu.be/-RMqrPces0Q
http://youtu.be/hUakZehZzLA
Joe "Stitch Em Up" Schilling (2-5)
Known for his use of elbows to cut opponents and nicknamed "Stitch 'em Up", Schilling began fighting professionally in 2006 and was a two-time national titlist before defeating Kaoklai Kaennorsing to become the WBC Muaythai Interim World Light Heavyweight Champion in 2011
As of 2 November 2015, he is ranked the #1 middleweight in the world by GLORY.
He made his Bellator debut against fellow kickboxer Melvin
Manhoef on November 15, 2014 at Bellator 131. Schilling won the back-and-forth fight via knockout in the second round.
http://youtu.be/_x02iiKcU58
http://youtu.be/9H1lm44NRUg
The Old Guard-
Bubba McDaniel (27-10-0)
In May 2014, McDaniel signed with Bellator. He made his return on June 6, 2014, facing Matt Jones at Bellator
121. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
McDaniel faced Emiliano Sordi on October 10, 2014 at Bellator 128. He lost via guillotine choke submission in the first round.
Since that loss, he had 4 fights outside of Bellator, going 3-1. He returned at Bellator 146 and defeated Kenyon Jackson by TKO.
http://youtu.be/jf0rBF47tcA
Kendal 'Da Spyder' Grove (22-15-1)
While on The Ultimate Fighter 3, Grove trained under Tito Ortiz, and won a preliminary victory against Ross
Pointon by rear naked choke and in the semi-finals defeated Kalib
Starnes by submission after a rib injury sustained by Starnes during the fight caused him to verbally submit. He defeated Ed Herman in the finals by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) in the series finale, winning a six-figure contract.
Grove made his promotional debut at Bellator
104 on October 18, 2013 with a three round decision victory over Joe Vedepo.
http://youtu.be/bKFJRnfaJVk
http://youtu.be/Osxwajvm_m4
Joey "the Mexecutioner" Beltran (
17-12-1)
Beltran actually made his Bellator debut way back at Bellator 5 on May 1, 2009 against former UFC veteran Sherman Pendergarst. Beltran won the fight in the first round via TKO.
Beltran fought highly regarded kickboxer Pat Barry at UFC Fight For the Troops 2 on January 22, 2011, in Fort Hood, Texas. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. During the fight, Beltran received a high volume of leg kicks from Barry, yet only collapsed at the end of the final round. Barry has since expressed his bewilderment at the level of punishment that Beltran was able to absorb.
Beltran made his Middleweight debut against Brian Rogers on April 10, 2015 at Bellator 136. He won the fight by majority decision.
http://youtu.be/UPjW2DPBBWs
http://youtu.be/MEJxxYR6MJw
The New Breed-
Ed Ruth (0-0)
While competing for Penn State University, Ruth became a three time NCAA collegiate wrestling champion (2012-2014). He is currently ranked number 1 at 189lbs in the United States.
In December 2014, Ruth trained with Jon Jones. While living in State College, PA, Ruth trained at Central PA Mixed Martial Arts with head instructor Ryan Gruhn.
He signed with Bellator in May 2015. Due to his focus on competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics, Ruth declared that it would "be a little while" before his MMA debut.
http://youtu.be/FFpMvNWhIrQ
http://youtu.be/dOCxaeIuTLM
Neiman Gracie (3-0)
A longtime world-class jiu-jitsu competitor, Gracie (1-0) transitioned to MMA last fall and will take his second professional fight on Saturday when he faces Dustin Holyko (2-0) at World Series of Fighting 11 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
On the same card with main event Justin Gaethje and Nick Newell (for the lightweight title) and co-main event Jon Fitch vs. Dennis Hallman, Gracie hopes to continue the momentum he started in September when he earned a win in his first professional fight (jumping straight to pro with no amateur MMA career).
Living in New York since he was 18 to teach and train at his uncle Renzo’s gym, the 25-year-old Gracie only laments that he can’t go out surfing as much as he would like to. Instead, he’s focusing on improving his MMA skills to build on what was already a standout jiu-jitsu resume.
http://youtu.be/oE8nq48UG2w
http://youtu.be/5gE_MruGVFo
Ben 'the Hunter' Reiter (16-1-1)
Since joining
Bellator in September 2014, middleweight
Ben “The Hunter” Reiter has continued the success he had built prior to becoming part of the organization.
Reiter has gone 2-1 in Bellator and feels that his work with one of MMA’s top teams (Greg Jacksons) has helped him step up to the larger stage and continue his success.
I’m excited about my future with the organization,” Reiter told
MMAWeekly.com. “I think it’s so far, so good, and I just want to keep focusing on getting better and proving myself as an athlete and work my way up the ranks.
http://youtu.be/bSfwz78VBDE
http://youtu.be/XG2k6P6__fs
John Salter (11-3)
John Salter began training in wrestling at age 12, going on to win a 2002 state title while in high school. He went on to attend
Lindenwood University in
St. Louis, Missouri, where he won the 2007
NAIA National Wrestling Championship at 174 lbs.
Following college, Salter won various national grappling tournaments, including the 2007
NAGA Nationals (No-Gi, middleweight) Expert Division, as well as the 2007 Casca Grossa (No-Gi, 175 lb and up) Professional Division.
In his
Bellator MMA debut, Salter faced
Dustin Jacoby on January 16, 2015 at
Bellator 132.[7] He won the fight via submission in the second round.
http://youtu.be/KmA1tQG0L9Y
http://youtu.be/CYpLDwaBbF8
Francisco "Kiko" France (13-3-1)
Not much on this guy except that of his 13 wins, 12 were by way of submission. He's only fought once in Bellator so far, but that one was a submission win against fellow up and comer Ben Reiter.
http://youtu.be/tAdmHdU_y0s
