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Bellator returned to action yesterday with Bellator 291, which saw Yaroslav Amosov defeat Logan Storley in the main event to become the undisputed Bellator Welterweight Champion.
Scott Coker, Bellator President, believes that Bellator has the best roster of MMA fighters in the world right now.
“Man, there’s a gauntlet of killers in here,” Coker said after Bellator 291 (transcript via Matt Erickson & Abbey Subhan of MMA Junkie). “And if you look at the fight starting with March 10, Usman fighting Benson, Shabliy vs. Musayev, and then we go to A.J. McKee fighting ‘Pitbull’ and Barnaoui fighting Brent Primus. That is a tremendous lineup and I’m really looking forward to it. That’s going to be a great year for us. I think that we’ve been on a roll. We’ve been putting out some great fights all over the world, and we’re going to continue doing it. I think this is the best roster we’ve ever had.”
The promotion currently has nine champions and four of those nine are former UFC fighters (Cris Cyborg, Sergio Pettis, Ryan Bader & Liz Carmouche).
Coker also believes his roster of champions is better than any other promotion’s roster of champions right now.
“If you look at a 205-pound weight class, I think we have the best fighter in the world,” Coker said. “185, we have the best fighter in the world. 170, we have the best fighter in the world. We could fight anybody, any of those, and even the lighter weights, I think ’45, I think ’55. Then whoever wins this tournament, to me, would be the best lightweight in the world. I mean, that’s how I feel.
“And to have to be able to say that after five, six years of building this roster, it feels really good because these guys are exceptional athletes. And when I first came here, it wasn’t like that. This was not the Bellator it is today. It was a very small organization, small show, and it’s come a long way. And now we’re on a good roll.”
