Bellator is ready to make its return

As the UFC is in the final stages for UFC 251, Bellator has set their plans in motion to make a return.

The organization was hours away from putting on Bellator 241 on March 13th when their president, Scott Coker made the final call to pull the plug. Since then the ViacomCBS owned organization has had different paths presented to them. One prevailing thought was that with them being owned by a major network, they'd return in a specially made sound studio.

The path they are most likely about to take is an interesting one. With the cross over of MMA and Boxing thanks to Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, athletes from both sports have talked more openly about trying the other one.

Well, Bellator appears to be teaming up with Showtime Boxing. And they'll be doing a three-month residency in the venue they were last supposed to be at; Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.

While many states are seeing serious spikes in Covid-19 cases, "The Nutmeg State" has seemed to level off to acceptable numbers, if there's such a thing. They're targeting July 24th, although due to no complete approval from the local government let alone the Mohegan Tribe Commission, Scott was unable to on the record confirm that date, or comment further.

During the heat of the pandemic, Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza was put in charge of the restructuring of ViacomCBS. Bellator already cross promotes with their European Series, as well as Bellator Kickboxing. Now add Bellator and Boxing to that list.

There could be both sports on the cards and even some athletes themselves crossing over. The much-wanted opportunity that Cyborg has requested may now just be months away from happening as well as many others. Both Coker and Stephen have discussed how that would work privately.

One thing that will affect who can be on these cards is that the New York tri-state area, including Connecticut, has increased the restrictions of state to state movement to 19.

Anyone coming from one of those has to be quarantined for 14 days as well as not test positive for COVID-19. While they are not strictly enforcing it, they are asking people to follow it.

So, it may very well be New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut fighters for now. However, there's a thought that many fighters have already been sent bout agreements. And with things possibly starting up later this month, training camps will be shorter for some.

The arena's casino has opened but with a smaller capacity with masks required and the 6 feet apart rule.