Bellator MMA has parted ways with a total of 18 fighters, including
former featherweight champion Daniel
Straus, light heavyweight king Liam
McGeary and once highly-touted prospect Tywan
Claxton.
Other notables no longer on the roster include Alessio
Sakara, Heather
Hardy, Bec
Rawlings, Tyree
Fortune and John
Teixeira. Sherdog.com confirmed the news with a promotion
official following an initial report from
MMAjunkie.com. Not all fighters mentioned were released by
Bellator; some simply didn’t have their contracts renewed or are
potentially pursuing other opportunities.
The following athletes are also not on the California-based
promotion’s roster: Khonry
Gracie, Amanda Bell,
Chuck
Campbell, Demarques
Jackson, Dominic
Mazzotta, Olga Rubin,
Kirill
Sidelnikov, Mike Jasper,
Steve MacDonald and Ryan
Spillane.
Straus is a two-time 145-pound title holder with Bellator. He
initially claimed the belt with a five-round verdict over Pat Curran at
Bellator 106 in November 2013 and regain the crown with a decision
triumph against Patricio
Freire at Bellator 145 in November 2015. He lost three of his
last four bouts in the promotion, last competing in a decision loss
to Derek
Campos as part of the featherweight grand prix in September
2019. Earlier this year, Straus was
arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly
weapon.
McGeary, 38, captured light heavyweight gold with a decision win
over Emanuel
Newton at Bellator 134 and defended the title with a submission
of Tito
Ortiz at Bellator 142. He relinquished the crown to Phil Davis in
a lopsided decision loss at Bellator 163, part of a stretch in
which the Brit lost four of his last six promotional outings. He
hasn’t fought since a loss to Davis in a rematch at Bellator 220 in
April 2019.
Claxton has spent his entire nine-bout professional tenure under
the Bellator banner. After beginning his career with five
consecutive triumphs, the 28-year-old known as “Air” has lost three
of his last four outings. Most recently, Claxton dropped a split
verdict to Justin
Gonzales at Bellator 260 on June 11.