Bellator has shortened its roster by nine after these recent fighter releases that included former staples Roger Huerta and Brandon Girtz.
Officials from the promotion informed Nolan King of MMA Junkie of these releases on Monday evening.
Here is a look at the fighters that are no longer under contract with Bellator:
Roger Huerta
Record: (24-13-1 MMA, 1-6 Bellator)
Huerta made his return to the promotion more than eight years removed from his first stint. Huerta went on to lose to Benson Henderson, Patricky Freire and Sidney Outlaw before his most recent loss to Chris Gonzalez at Bellator 255 in April. He is now on the second four-fight losing streak of his professional career.
Brandon Girtz
Record: (16-10 MMA, 8-8 Bellator)
Girtz had been with the promotion since 2012. He earned wins over the likes of Melvin Guillard, Derek Campos and Saad Awad but struggled against well-known names such as Michael Chandler and Myles Jury in recent years. His final fight with Bellator would be his featherweight debut against Henry Corrales, who he lost to by way of split decision at Bellator 250.
Cal Ellenor
Record: (8-3 MMA, 1-1 Bellator)
Ellenor made his promotional debut at Bellator Newcastle in 2019. He submitted Nathan Greyson in the first round with a rear-naked choke and called for a fight against highly sought-after bantamweight contender, James Gallagher. After three failed bookings, Ellenor and Gallagher finally met at Bellator Euro Series 9, where he was submitted in the first round.
Arbi Mezhidov
Record: (13-4 MMA, 0-1 Bellator)
Mezhidov appeared at Bellator 248, where he met and was submitted by Saul Rogers in the first round.
Frans Mlambo
Record: (9-5 MMA, 3-1 Bellator)
Mlambo leaves with three wins over Nathan Greyson, Dominique Wooding and Cory Tait. He lost to Ricky Bandejas by way of second-round knockout at Bellator 240.
Paul Redmond
Record: (15-8 MMA, 2-1 Bellator)
The “Redser” leaves with two unanimous decision wins over Sergio de Jesus Santos and Charlie Leary. Fights against Brandon Girtz and Ryan Scope were canceled before Redmond was matched against Georgi Karakhanyan, who submitted him with a guillotine choke in the second round.
Ryan Roddy
Record: (8-1-1 MMA, 1-0 Bellator)
Roddy defeated Patrik Pietila at Bellator 227 last year and was expected to return against Chris Duncan at Bellator 240, but withdrew from the fight.
Richie Smullen
Record: (6-2-1 MMA, 3-1 Bellator)
Smullen joined the Bellator roster after a brief stint in the UFC following an appearance on Season 27 of the Ultimate Fighter. Smullen went on to defeat Adam Gustab, Sean Tobin and Harry Hardwick but dropped a split decision to Alberth Dias.
Gabriel Varga
Record: (1-1 MMA, 1-1 Bellator)
Varga knocked out Jamese Taylor at Bellator 224 in July 2019. His sophomore outing resulted in split decision loss to TeeJay Britton at Bellator 239.
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