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Bellator MMA

Bellator MMA is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2008, and based in Santa Monica, California. Bellator MMA is considered to be the largest European-based MMA organization, and the largest MMA promoter in the world outside of UFC. The company is owned and operated by entertainment entrepreneur ViacomCBS, which acquired a majority stake in the company in 2011. Bellator MMA's mission is to provide its fans the most intense, electrifying, and entertaining fights in all of MMA. Bellator MMA currently features some of the top MMA fighters in the world, along with notable former UFC champions such as Cheick Kongo, Chael Sonnen, and Mirko Cro Cop. Bellator features four weight classes; featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, and heavyweight. The featherweight and lightweight divisions are further divided into divisions for professional and amateur fighters, while the welterweight and heavyweight divisions are exclusively for professional fighters. A key feature of Bellator MMA is its annual cost-shared "Grand Prix" tournament series. This tournament series has become very popular among fans and fighters, and has helped to bring attention to the organization. The Grand Prix features fighters from all of the divisions who compete in an elimination bracket, with the winner being crowned the Bellator heavyweight or lightweight champion. In addition to the Grand Prix, Bellator MMA also hosts title fights for the four divisions and Superfight matches. Superfight matches are non-title bouts between two of the top ranked fighters in a single division. Bellator also holds specialty events throughout the year such as the Season 9 Superfight Series, the Summer Series, and Dynamite. Since its inception, Bellator MMA has been a pioneer in the MMA industry, as the organization is the first MMA promotion to introduce a round-by-round scoring system, the first to give its fighters official fighter rankings, and the first to reward fighters with championship belts and purses. Bellator MMA is also the first MMA organization to broadcast its fights live in movie theaters, as well as the first to broadcast its fights online through a subscription service. In addition to being the largest MMA promotion in the world outside of the UFC, Bellator has organized some of the most well-attended MMA shows in recent memory, with the most recent being Bellator 255, which drew over 17,000 attendees at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.