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20 of the best Bellator fighters of all time

With Bellator on the verge of collapse, we take a look at the top 20 Bellator fighters of all time.

By Chad Porto

Bellator 192: Lima v MacDonald
Bellator 192: Lima v MacDonald / Jayne Kamin-Oncea/GettyImages
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15. Alexander Volkov

While Vitaly Minakov defeated Alexander Volkov, Volkov is the fighter that had a more historic run in the promotion. He would win the season seven and ten tournaments, while also capturing the Bellator heavyweight title in the process. He didn't have as impressive of names but he wracked up one impressive resume.

14. Ben Askren

Before he was a meme, Ben Askren was a great fighter. In the early days of Bellator, he went 9-0, winning the Bellator Season Two Welterweight Tournament, winning the Bellator welterweight championship in the process, and defending the title four times before leaving the promotion. And while he didn't have a lot of big names on his resume, he did defeat a young Douglas Lima and Lyman Good.

13. Hector Lombard

Fans who saw Hector Lombard in the UFC, never saw him at his full potential. During his time in Bellator, he established the standard. He won the Bellator middleweight title, becoming the first person to ever do so, and in the process won the Bellator Season One Middleweight Tournament. He was also the only loss on Alexander Shlemenko's Bellator record for a while.

12. Julia Budd

Bellator fans remember the beast that Julia Budd was, and even though she's fallen off some in the PFL, Budd's time in Bellator was super necessary. She lost just once in 10 fights with the promotion, and that one loss was to Cris Cyborg. Other than that, she never tasted defeat with Bellator. Her reliance on her kickboxing made her a threat whenever she stepped in the cage, and it's why she was the promotion's inaugural featherweight champion.

11. Cris Cyborg

It's important to remember that this is just a Bellator ranking, not a full career ranking. Cris Cyborg would be much higher on the list if it were such. Still, after losing just one time in 18 years, Cyborg remains one of the best talents Bellator, or the world of MMA, has ever seen. She unseated Julia Budd for the featherweight crown while defeating the likes of Arlene Blencow (twice) and Cat Zingano

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