Ben Saunders released by bellator

With Bellator Season 9 in the books and the promotion looking to stage another 170-pound tournament in 2014 with fresh faces, Welterweight Ben Saunders has been given his complete release from the promotion.

MMAmania.com today learned from sources close to the situation that Bellator MMA has elected to release one of its more notable Welterweight fighters, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran, Ben Saunders.

When reached to confirm the news, Bellator CEO, Bjorn Rebney, provided the following statement:

"I've been a 'Killa B' fan for years, and Ben’s given 100 percent of his heart every single time he’s stepped into the Bellator cage. After competing in three Bellator tournaments, Ben could never get to the top of that mountain, and as we continue to grow and expand I spoke to Ben and we both decided it was time to move in a different direction, so we provided Ben his complete release"
Saunders' last appearance for the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion came at Bellator 100 back in Sept. 20, 2013, losing in devastating fashion to Douglas Lima (watch the knockout highlights here) and ending his third run at the170-pound title.

With a record of 16-6, it will be interesting to see what the MMA future holds for Saunders, 30, who has performed well (7-3) over the years, but just not well enough.

Keep it locked on MMAmania.com for more news and notes on this situation as it develops.
mma mania.com

This is an instance of the tournament format being a hindrance, due to.this.simply being a move solely on getting new faces for the welterweight division, as opposed to performance.

I agree but mostly I heard Saunders wanted in on the next tourney but bellator wanted him to earn a spot to even fight for a spot to get in.

They both agreed it wouldn't workout.

I like Ben he's a cool Guy not bad fighter but I never saw him as a champion and hey one fc or wsof will have him hell ufc might use him accross in Japan or Europe tour.

ben saunders is the kinda guy that will go to WSOF.