Bellator MMA is moving exclusively to Showtime in the U.S. and will be launching a Light Heavyweight Grand Prix this April.
The news was announced Tuesday afternoon with a presentation involving Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza, Bellator President Scott Coker, and host Mauro Ranallo from the Fight Sphere in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The announcement of Showtime bringing MMA back to the network comes almost exactly fourteen years to the date of its first MMA broadcast. On February 10, 2007, Showtime hosted Elite XC’s inaugural show “Destiny” headlined by Renzo Gracie vs. Frank Shamrock, but more well-remembered for a women’s bout between Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie.
Bellator MMA will air on Friday nights at 9 pm ET beginning with three consecutive weeks of live cards on April 2nd, April 9th, and April 16th.
The card on April 2nd will feature featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire defending his title in the semi-finals of the ongoing Featherweight Grand Prix against Emmanuel Sanchez. The winner will advance to meet A.J. McKee in the finals later this year.
An eight-man Light Heavyweight Grand Prix will kick off the following week with two opening-round fights on April 9th, and the other two opening round fights the following week.
April 9
– Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
– Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida
April 16
– Anthony Johnson vs. Yoel Romero
– Vadim Nemkov (current light heavyweight champion) vs. Phil Davis
The semi-finals of the Grand Prix are tentatively set for July and the finals in October.
Bellator MMA has also announced a card for Friday, May 6th with Juan Archuleta taking on Sergio Pettis.
The move to Showtime should be a significant step forward for Bellator, who had shifted from the Paramount Network to the fledgling CBS Sports Network in 2020.
