Bellator Confirms Champ Vs. Champ, Rampage Jackson-Wanderlei Silva, New Broadcast Deal

It was an exciting day for those with Bellator MMA earlier this week, as the promotion confirmed two bouts for later this summer, a welterweight grand prix and a new deal with DAZN to broadcast events live even when they are out of the country.

First, Bellator and DAZN, a live sports streaming service that is part of the Perform Group, have reached a nine-figure deal over several years to air seven exclusive fight cards per year and another 15 simulcast across Paramount Network and DAZN. All fights will stream in any country where DAZN is available, with the service launching this year in the U.S. It is already available in Japan, Canada, Germany and other countries.

"The exciting new partnership with DAZN is a game-changer for Bellator," said Bellator President Scott Coker. "The investment will enable us to continue expanding our roster with free agents that make sense, so we can put on PPV-worthy fight cards that fans want to see. Plus, on DAZN's worldwide platform, our fights will be seen live for the first time to new audiences around the globe."

Up first under the new deal will be an event on Saturday, September 29 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California with Gegard Mousasi defending his middleweight title against welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. Also, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei Silva meet for a fourth time.

On that same night, the first fight in the Welterweight World Grand Prix will take place. In a release, Bellator did not announce any participants for the event, but reports have stated Michael Page, Andrey Koreshkov and MacDonald are likely to be involved.