AJ Agazarm has had something of a memorable run competing under the Bellator banner, but it has now potentially come to an end. Bellator have removed a huge number of fighters from their roster as they have come to the end of their contract and while some will be renegotiated, others will be released. The full list of changes was originally reported by MMA Fighting. Some of the names that may no longer be competing for Scott Coker’s promotion are not very surprising while many others may come as something of a shock, potentially making attractive prospects for the UFC to snap up.
AJ Agazarm put together a 3-2 run for Bellator which included all of his professional MMA fights and he was most recently seen on the losing end of a unanimous decision to Chris Lencioni at Bellator 243. The most memorable part of the fight came in the post-fight interview when Agazarm decided to accuse one of the judges of being biased and requested that the result be overturned to a draw. He did later walk back these accusations and reacted much more graciously with a little bit of distance from the loss, although this reaction came with further bad news.
Agazarm had suffered a devastating knee injury which will no doubt keep him sidelined for a very long time. Given that he now holds a decidedly average record against lower-tier opposition and will not be able to compete for a while, a decision to allow his contract to end makes some sense. Other fighters now understandably out of contract include Roy Nelson and Frank Mir, who are both edging closer and closer to retirement. The surprising additions range from former two-division champion Joe Warren, long-time Bellator veteran Derek Campos, and elite kickboxer Joe Schilling.
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
Chris 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 who have now officially retired:
Rafael Lovato Jr.
Jon Fitch
Pat Curran
