Nine fighters were let go by Bellator, sources confirmed to MMA Fighting following a report by Jason Floyd. The list includes Chidi Njokuani, Noad Lahat, Hisaki Kato, Jarod Trice, Chris Honeycutt, J.J. Ambrose, Mohammad Yahya, Carrington Banks and Nathan Greyson.
A longtime veteran in the Bellator cage, Njokuani (18-7, 1 no-contest) headlined a Bellator event in 2018 and recently co-headlined a show in July. He lost both bouts to John Salter and Rafael Carvalho, dropping his promotional record to 5-3.
Lahat (13-4), an important name for Bellator in its trips to Israel in the past, defeated Brian Moore in his last appearance in the cage in November. The UFC veteran won four of six bouts under the Bellator banner.
Trice’s release comes out a surprise as he won all four of his Bellator bouts since making his MMA debut for the company in 2016, fighting from 190-pound catchweights all the way up to heavyweight.
Honeycutt (11-3, 1 no-contest) fought 11 times inside the Bellator cage between 2014 and 2018, racking up a 7-3 record with one no-contest. In his last appearance in November, “The Cutt” lost a split decision to Costello van Steenis.
Kato (8-3), who scored Bellator wins over the likes of Joe Schilling and Ralek Gracie, hasn’t fought under MMA rules since a 2017 loss to Njokuani. Greyson (6-4), a former Cage Warriors flyweight champion, went 0-2 in Bellator this year.