REPORTS: Talks of Bellator 's sale have seemingly gotten more serious
It seems that Bellator may soon have new ownership. The MMA promotion is currently owned by Paramount Global, a conglomerate formed through the merger between Viacom and CBS in December 2019, which airs the promotion on its Showtime cable channel.
MMA journalist Jed I. Goodman recently tweeted that Paramount Global is looking at potential buyers for the promotion, and the discussions regarding the sale may have gotten more serious. He tweeted:
"Per WON, discussing Bellator: "It’s been known that Paramount has been looking to sell for some time. There are talks in that direction that have seemingly gotten more serious."
Per WON, discussing Bellator: "It’s been known that Paramount has been looking to sell for some time. There are talks in that direction that have seemingly gotten more serious"
Bellator has seen its viewership numbers take a massive hit since moving from SpikeTV/Paramount to CBS Sports and then to Showtime. This may be because Showtime is an exclusive and premium cable channel compared to Paramount, a part of basic cable packages across the United States.
While the UFC is undoubtedly the world's biggest MMA promotion, many other promotions, like the Professional Fighters League (PFL), ONE Championship, and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), have emerged as competing organizations.
With the organization struggling for viewership, the rise in competition paired with the Showtime paywall has certainly complicated things for Scott Coker's organization.
Bellator update: Upcoming 2023 schedule
American MMA promotion Bellator will continue through the springtime with an action-packed schedule featuring some very exciting events for the fans.
Scott Coker's promotion began the year with a heavyweight clash where Ryan Bader defeated Fedor Emelianenko to retain the heavyweight championship in February. Soon after, Yaroslav Amosov outpointed Logan Storley to remain the welterweight champion. At Bellator 292, Usman Nurmagomedov sent Benson Henderson into retirement and reclaimed his lightweight title.
Up ahead, the promotion will bring back-to-back nights of action to Hawaii. After Daniel James knocked out Marcelo Golm, Liz Carmouche will look to defend the women's flyweight crown against DeAnna Bennett on April 21. The Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix will then wrap up on April 22, when interim champion Raufeon Stots goes up against Patchy Mix.
After a three-week break, former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi will return to face Fabian Edwards, brother of UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, on May 12. The promotion will then visit Chicago on June 16, where Vadim Nemkov will defend his light heavyweight title against former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero.
The card also features reigning featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull pursuing his third-divisional title against bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis.