5 best fighters in Bellator
Bellator is the second largest MMA promotion in the world. Established in 2008, it has quickly established itself as a viable alternative to the UFC powerhouse and has signed many of the promotion's ex-stars to great effect. In fact, three of its current champions are UFC alumni.
However, Bellator is not a company for past its prime former UFC stars, it has a large array of homegrown MMA talent itself and is an extremely exciting league that is continually gaining more and more traction with the MMA fanbase.
This slideshow counts down the five best fighters currently on the Bellator roster.
#5 Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
The Hawaiian native is a seven fight Bellator veteran and has won every single one of them.
Macfarlane won the Bellator Flyweight World Championship with victory at Bellator 186 and most recently defended the title at UFC 201 with an arm-bar submission victory over Alejandra Lara.
The submission specialist is an incredibly tenacious and tough performer who dominates her opponents with her superior technical skills.
At just 28 years of age, Macfarlane is likely to be the figurehead of her division for many years to come.
#4 Michael Chandler
Michael Chandler has made a career in Bellator for the past eight years. It has proved a highly successful one.
Chandler defeated current UFC superstar, Eddie Alvarez to win the Bellator Lightweight Championship at Bellator 58 and held the title for two years until he was upended by Alvarez in a re-match via a close split-decision.
From there, he lost consecutive matches to Will Brooks before he returned to his imperious best and reclaimed the Lightweight Title, when he beat Patricky Freire at Bellator 157. Then in one of the most impressive victories of his career, Chandler bested former UFC Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson to defend his title at Bellator 165.
Since losing the title in June 2017, Chandler has pulled together a two match winning streak putting himself firmly back in contention for another title shot.
No fighter has fought more, won more fights or had more title matches than Chandler in Bellator. No list of it's biggest stars would be complete without him.