Genre Sports Country of origin United States Original network Spike TV | Created by Scott Coker Running time 120 minutes | |
Original release September 5 – November 15, 2014 | ||
Bellator MMA: Season Eleven is the eleventh season of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion, which began on September 5, 2014. This is the last season of Bellator MMA.
Contents
Background
In June 2014, Bellator MMA underwent significant change in their executive ranks. Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. Former Strikeforce founder Scott Coker was announced as the new President of Bellator MMA.
Coker confirmed Bellator would retain the weekly event schedule for season 11 for the fall of 2014, beginning on Friday, September 5, 2014.
Bellator 123
Bellator 123 took place on September 5, 2014 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 123 was headlined by a Featherweight Championship rematch between Pat Curran and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. The two originally met in a closely contested fight at Bellator 85 on January 17, 2013, with Curran winning the bout via split decision. The rematch was initially scheduled to take place at Bellator 121, however, it was announced on May 21, 2014 that Curran had pulled out of the bout due to a calf injury.
This event marked the first time Bellator MMA and their rival the Ultimate Fighting Championship have had live shows go against each other. Additionally, both were held in the same state in venues located within miles of each other.
In the night's co-main event former tournament champion, and former Strikforce champion, Muhammed Lawal was originally scheduled to face Tom DeBlass. However, on August 11, it was revealed DeBlass suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Marcus Sursa. In turn, Sursa was also injured and Lawal faced Dustin Jacoby.
Results
Bellator 124
Bellator 124 took place on September 12, 2014 at the Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township, Michigan. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 124 was headlined by a Light Heavyweight Championship match between champion Emanuel Newton and Joey Beltran.
The event also featured the Bellator 2014 Light Heavyweight Tournament Final between Liam McGeary and Kelly Anundson in the co-main event, to determine the next title challenger.
Results
Bellator 125
Bellator 125 took place on September 19, 2014 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 125 was headlined by a Middleweight match between former kickboxing champion and Bellator newcomer Melvin Manhoef facing former Bellator tournament winner, and former WEC champion, Doug Marshall.
Four time Bellator tournament veteran Brian Rogers was originally scheduled to face former WEC champion James Irvin in the co-main event of this card. However, on September 1, it was revealed that Irvin was injured and Rogers would instead face season eight tournament finalist Brett Cooper. Then, on September 9, it was announced that Cooper would have to pull out of the match due to a back injury; Rogers instead faced promotional newcomer Rafael Carvalho.
Results
Bellator 126
Bellator 126 took place on September 26, 2014 at the Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 126 was headlined by a Middleweight Championship bout between champion Alexander Shlemenko and Season 10 Middleweight Tournament winner Brandon Halsey.
The card also featured the final bout of the Season 10 Lightweight Tournament between Patricky Freire and Marcin Held.
Results
Bellator 127
Bellator 127 took place on October 3, 2014 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
The event was headlined by featherweight match between former Bellator Featherweight Champion Daniel Mason-Straus and season nine tournament finalist Justin Wilcox.
The co-main event was supposed to feature a Welterweight bout between former Dream welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis and former WEC champion Karo Parisyan. However, on September 24 it was announced that Fernando Gonzalez replaced Marius Zaromskis due to an undisclosed injury. Fernando's original opponent Justin Baesman faced newcomer John Mercurio.
Results
Bellator 128
Bellator 128 took place on October 10, 2014 at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 128 was headlined by a Bellator Bantamweight Championship fight between champion Eduardo Dantas and interim champion Joe Warren.
A Lightweight contest between Alexander Sarnavskiy and John Gunderson was scheduled to take place on this card. However, due to Gunderson pulling out of the bout and retiring, Derek Campos stepped in as a replacement. Campos suffered an injury and was forced out of the fight, Sarnavskiy faced promotional newcomer Dakota Cochrane.
Results
Bellator 129
Bellator 129 took place on October 17, 2014 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 129 was headlined by a Welterweight fight between Iowa natives and UFC Vets Josh Neer and Paul Bradley.
In the co-main event Houston Alexander was expected to face Pride FC vet James Thompson in a Heavyweight bout. However, on October 10, 2014, it was announced that Thompson was pulled from the fight due to injury. Alexander instead faced Virgil Zwicker.
Results
Bellator 2014 Monster Energy Cup
The Bellator 2014 Monster Energy Cup took place on October 18, 2014 at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada.
Background
On October 15, 2014, Bellator announced that during the Monster Energy Cup series three fights will take place during the “Party in the Pits” pre-race festivities.
Results
Bellator 130
Bellator 130 took place on October 24, 2014 at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
Bellator 130 was headlined by a Light Heavyweight Championship fight between Emanuel Newton and Linton Vassell.
Results
Bellator 131
Bellator 131 took place on November 15, 2014 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV.
Background
The event was announced during the Bellator Season 11 debut on September 5, 2014. It served as the season finale.
Bellator President Scott Coker announced the main event would feature a grudge match between two former top UFC light heavyweights with Tito Ortiz taking on the newly signed Stephan Bonnar.
Additionally, it was announced that the co-main event would be a rematch between current interim lightweight champion Will Brooks and former undisputed champion Michael Chandler, for the vacant world title.
Muhammed Lawal was originally scheduled to face Tom DeBlass on this card. However, on November 1, it was announced that DeBlass had suffered a cut during training and had to withdraw from the bout. Lawal instead faced Joe Vedepo.
This event was the highest rated in Bellator's history, garnering an average viewership of 1.2 million television viewers in the U.S. with a peak of over 2 million viewers in the main event.
Results