At the end of 2014, three of Bellator MMA’s champions were Will Brooks (lightweight), Brandon Halsey (middleweight), and Emanuel Newton (light heavyweight). In May 2016, Brooks was granted his release and soon signed with the UFC. As of October 2016, none of them is under contract with the promotion.

Jason Floyd of The MMA Report confirmed that both Newton and Halsey have been released from their Bellator contracts. Halsey later confirmed the news to FightLine, saying that “It’s what I wanted and think it will be better for me in the long run.”

It’s been a rapid downfall for Halsey (9-2), who won the Bellator middleweight title in September 2014, defeating Alexander Shlemenko by 1st round rear-naked choke. He never even made a defense, as he badly missed weight for his fight vs. Kendall Grove, and was stripped of his title before he TKO’d Grove. Halsey fought Rafael Carvalho for the vacant belt in October 2015, and suffered a body kick TKO loss in one of the year’s biggest upsets. The 30-year-old had another setback this year, as John Salter tapped him out with a triangle choke in June.

Newton (26-11-1) won the undisputed Bellator light heavyweight championship with a split decision over Attila Vegh in March 2014. He would go on to twice successfully defend his belt, knocking out Joey Beltran with a spinning backfist, then submitting Linton Vassell. His reign as champion ended against Liam McGeary in February 2015, and back-to-back losses to Phil Davis and Linton Vassell ensued. Newton has actually had his last two fights happen outside of Bellator, although it’s not uncommon for Bellator fighters to compete outside the promotion. The 32-year-old submitted Matt Baker in April, but dropped a decision to Evgeny Erokhin, sending him to his 4th loss in 5 fights. Newton is best known for his spinning backfist KO of King Mo Lawal in February 2013, which still holds up as one of the more shocking finishes in MMA history.

Unlike Will Brooks, the recent performances of Newton and Halsey probably won’t lead to them joining Brooks in the UFC, at least not any time soon. As it stands, there are two ex-Bellator champions who are now free agents.