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Former two-division champion Joe Warren, Ricky Bandejas, Roy Nelson among slew of Bellator fighters no longer under contract

Ricky BandejasEsther Lin, MMA Fighting

Bellator MMA has made a lot of prospect and free agency signings over the last several weeks which has led to a trimming of their roster.

Sources close to the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting that several fighters from the roster are no longer under contract—including former two-division world champion Joe Warren, bantamweight Ricky Bandejas and longtime promotional veteran Derek Campos. MMA reporter Jason Floyd was first to report the news.

Per sources, it’s important to note that not all fighters on the list were not released from the promotion. While that is the case for some, others are currently renegotiating for a potential return to the Bellator cage.

Warren hasn’t competed in the Bellator cage in almost two years and dropped three of his last four, including a first-round TKO loss to Shawn Bunch in his most recent fight at Bellator 210 in November 2018. Warren captured the featherweight title with a second-round finish of Joe Soto at Bellator 27 in September 2010, and became the 135-pound titleholder with a decision win over Eduardo Dantas in October 2014 at Bellator 128.

Bandejas was widely considered one of the promotion’s top bantamweight prospects following his first-round finish of James Gallagher at Bellator 204. Since then, the 28-year-old compiled a 2-4 record, including losses in his last two fights to Sergio Pettis and Leandro Higo.

Campos, one of the promotion’s action-packed fighters who competed in the lightweight and featherweight divisions, is 1-5 in his last six and was finished in his last two appearances by AJ McKee and Keoni Diggs.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir was also revealed to be off of the roster, which was to be expected after he signed a multi-fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. In addition, Roy Nelson, another UFC turned Bellator fighter, is on the list.

Additionally, former champions Pat Curran and Rafael Lovato Jr., along with Jon Fitch have officially informed Bellator that they have retired.

Here is the full list of Bellator fighters who are no longer on the roster:

Joe Warren

Ricky Bandejas

Derek Campos

Frank Mir

Roy Nelson

Vinicius Zani

Manny Vazquez

Shawn Bunch

Mike Kimbel

AJ Agazarm

Adel Altamim

Adil Benjilany

Daniel Crawford

Cris Lencioni

Jeremiah Labiano

Salim Mukhidinov

Mihail Nica

Haim Gozali

Richard Kiely

Ion Pascu

Mateusz Piskorz

David Rickels

Joe Schilling

Tuco Tokkos

Rafael Carvalho

Rudy Schaffroth

Kristina William

Hatice Ozyurt

Fighters to officially inform promotion of retirement:

Rafael Lovato Jr.

Jon Fitch

Pat Curran

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