Bellator continues promotional overhaul, releases 13 more fighters including Shahbulat Shamhalaev

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Following the reinstated women’s division that was announced last week, Bellator MMA continued its organizational restructuring on Tuesday afternoon when it was revealed that thirteen more fighters had been released from the promotion.

Bellator officials confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com.

While the list generally includes lower-tier fighters, it does feature al tournament champion as well as one former title holder, which should clearly emphasize the organization’s projected future plans.

The most surprising two releases were Shahbulat Shamhalaev, a former season 7 featherweight tournament winner, and Attila Vegh, a light-heavyweight champion who was later defeated by current title holder Emanuel Newton.

The official list of the released fighters can be found below:

Shahbulat Shamhalaev

Attila Vegh

Des Green

Bryan Baker

Ron Sparks

Rodney Wallace

Mighty Mo Siglia

Mark Godbeer

Justin Torrey

Egidijus Valavicius

Sergio Junior

Patrick Cenoble

Austen Heidlage

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About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.