Report: Bellator MMA Looking To Return In June Or July, Running Events On Hollywood Soundstage

Bellator MMA has canceled a plethora of events due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the latest victim being Bellator 244. 

MMA Fighting has spoken with Bellator MMA President Scott Coker, who has informed them that the promotion is looking to resume their schedule in June or July. The events will all be empty arena shows and run on a Hollywood soundstage owned by Viacom/CBS, which owns Bellator MMA.

The promotion is currently awaiting to see how regulations change in the area before deciding when to run events. 

Coker also told MMA Fighting that if the promotion does decide to move forward with events, fighters and everyone involved with the shows will be subject to additional testing due to the pandemic.

“We want to be back in there as soon as possible, but we want to do it the right way, and health and safety comes first,” Coker said. “This situation is real, and we’re going to do everything we can to protect our staff, our fighters and our contractors. We expect to get back to work and get all those protocols worked out sometime in the next 60 days, and we’re going to get right back to work after that.”

If Bellator MMA doesn’t alter their current schedule, fans will not see an event from the promotion until Bellator Dublin in October of this year.