Eduardo Dantas (born 3 February 1989) is a Brazilian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

who competes in the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Dantas mostly fought for the Bellator MMA where he was the former two-time Bellator Bantamweight World champion. He has also fought in

Shooto Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 198 ...

, where he has competed for the Shooto 132-pound world title. From January 2012 to October 2017, he was ranked in the top 10 bantamweights in the world by

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix , MMA Rankings, Records, Statistics is an independent, comprehensive, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. According to FightMatrix: "The rankings on thi ...

, getting as high as #3 in January 2014.

Mixed martial arts career

Background

Dantas trains with Nova União. Dantas has also shown a tendency in his career to prefer the striking game.

Shooto Brazil

After compiling a record of 3–1, including a win over Shooto champ

Shinichi Kojima is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He has fought for most of his career in the Shooto organization. Mixed martial arts career Kojima was the Shooto Bantamweight Champion from 2006 until 2010, when an ACL injury in his right knee prevented him f ...

, Dantas main evented Shooto Brazil 5. Dantas attempted multiple striking techniques including flying knees, before finishing his opponent with punches to the stomach. Soon after, Dantas won the Shooto South American 132 lb title, which he owned up going into his fight against Ueda. Dantas would next compete for the Shooto 132-pound world title. At that time, his opponent,

Masakatsu Ueda Masakatsu Ueda (born December 21, 1977) is a professional Japanese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the bantamweight division of Pancrase. Ueda was also a college level wrestler in Japan, where holds a win over fellow mixed marti ...

was ranked as the #2 bantamweight in the world. In a three-round bout, Dantas was able to rock his opponent on a number of occasions, but suffered a point deduction after holding the ropes to prevent a takedown from Ueda. Dantas would go on to lose the bout 29–28, 29–28, 30–28. Dantas later bounced back with a TKO victory over Carlos Roberto in the second round. This was followed by a submission victory at The Way of Shooto 3 in May 2010. Dantas was next set to defend his Shooto South American 132 lb Championship in a rematch with Luis Alberto Nogueira, but the bout was cancelled.

Bellator Fighting Championships

In the fall of 2011, Dantas entered Bellator's Season Five Bantamweight Tournament. He defeated

Wilson Reis Wilson Reis Monte Alto Gonçalves (born January 6, 1985, in Januária) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division. Reis is the former EliteXC Bantamweight Champion and has also competed for UFC, Bellator, ShoXC ...

via second-round KO in the quarter-final round and Ed West by split decision in the semi-final round in order to advance to the finals. In the finals, he defeated Alexis Vila via unanimous decision to become the tournament champion.

Bellator Bantamweight Champion

Eduardo challenged champion

Zach Makovsky Zachary Paul "Zach" Makovsky (born April 19, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the flyweight division of the Brave Combat Federation. He has competed in EliteXC, ShoXC, Bellator, and Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

at Bellator 65 on 13 April 2012 for the Bellator Bantamweight title. He won the fight via technical submission in the second round. In August 2012, Dantas faced

Tyson Nam Tyson Ka'eo Nam (born October 6, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division for UFC. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Nam has formerly competed for World Series of Fighting, Elite ...

in a fight outside of Bellator. Dantas had been permitted by Bellator to fight against Nam, as the fight took place outside of the United States and wouldn't be aired on television in the U.S. either. The two faced off at ''Shooto Brazil 33: Fight for BOPE II'' in an event that served as a fundraiser for the "Batalhao de Operacoes Policiais Especiais" (Special Police Operations Battalion), which was Rio de Janeiro's military special forces. Although Dantas rocked Nam early with a knee, he was knocked out in the first round by a counter right hook after he rushed forward aggressively. In February 2013, Dantas defended his title against, good friend and teammate, Marcos Galvão at Bellator 89. He finished Galvão in the 2nd round via knock out. It was reported that Dantas had injured his ankle and won't be able to return until 2014 to defend his belt against Rafael Silva. It was announced on 9 January 2014 that Dantas will defend his belt against Rafael Silva on 7 March 2014. However, Silva suffered a knee injury and was replaced by runner-up Anthony Leone. Dantas successfully defended his title, winning via rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Dantas was scheduled to face Bellator Season 9 Bantamweight Tournament winner Joe Warren at Bellator 118. However, Dantas suffered a head injury and withdrew from the bout. Rafael Silva then faced Warren for the interim title. Dantas faced Joe Warren in a title unification bout on 10 October 2014 at

Bellator 128 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweigh ...

. He lost the fight and bantamweight championship title via unanimous decision.

Back to contention

Dantas was expected to face

Mike Richman Michael Richman (born June 23, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Legacy Fighting Alliance. A professional competitor in mixed martial arts since 2008, Richman has competed for Bella ...

on 27 March 2015 at

Bellator 135 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

. However, the bout was removed from the fight card after Richman suffered an undisclosed injury. The fight eventually took place at Bellator 137 on 15 May 2015, despite Richman not making weight. Dantas won the back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision. In addition, Richman failed a post-fight drug screening.

Second title reign

Dantas was originally scheduled to face former teammate, Marcos Galvão in a rematch for the Bellator Bantamweight Championship title at

Bellator 144 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

, but was postponed after an injury to Dantas. The rematch was then scheduled to take place at

Bellator 150 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickboxi ...

on 26 February 2016, however, the bout was again postponed, this time due to an illness suffered by Galvão. The bout eventually took place on 17 June 2016 at Bellator 156, in which Dantas regained the championship, winning by unanimous decision. In his first title defense during his second stint as champion, Dantas faced Joe Warren in a rematch in the main event at Bellator 166 on 2 December 2016. Dantas was successful this time against Warren, winning the fight via majority decision. Dantas was expected to make his second title defense at Bellator 177 on 14 April 2017, facing off against Darrion Caldwell. However, after an undisclosed injury to Caldwell, Dantas instead faced Leandro Higo at the event. The bout was changed to a non-title catchweight bout after Higo missed weight. Dantas won via split decision after three rounds. The title bout between Dantas and Caldwell was rescheduled for Bellator 184 on 6 October 2017. Dantas lost the fight and his title by unanimous decision.

After the second title reign

Dantas next faced former UFC title contender Michael McDonald on 13 July 2018 at Bellator 202. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. In the course of fight, Dantas was dropped early by a right hand from McDonald. As he was falling, he broke his right

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...

. He was then scheduled to fight Manny Vazquez at Bellator 215 on 15 February 2019. However, Vazquez withdrew from the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Toby Misech. Dantas won the fight via unanimous decision.

Move up to featherweight

On 28 May 2019, it was announced that Dantas would move up to featherweight and face Juan Archuleta at Bellator 222 on 14 June 2019. He lost the fight via knockout in the second round. His contract expired after the fight, making him a free agent.

Post-Bellator career

Dantas signed a contract with Elite MMA Championship and was scheduled to compete at EMC 7 on 3 July 2021. However, the bout was cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

travel restrictions.

Return to Shooto Brazil

On 13 July 2021, it was announced that Dantas was returning to Shooto Brazil to face Michel Costa on 24 July 2021 in Rio de Janeiro. He won the bout via arm-triangle in the first round. Dantas was scheduled to face Jose Johnson at Fury FC 53 on November 14, 2021. However, Dantas withdrew from the bout due to travel issues and was replaced by Mo Miller. Dantas faced José Alday at FAC 12 on February 6, 2022. Dantas won the bout after knocking out his opponent with a head kick in the second round.

Championships and accomplishments

* Bellator Fighting Championships **

Bellator Bantamweight World Championship Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded B ...

(Two times; former) ***Three successful title defenses (overall) ****Two successful title defenses (first reign) ****One successful title defense (second reign) ** Bellator Season 5 Bantamweight Tournament Winner *Shooto Brazil **Shooto South American Featherweight Championship (One time; former)

Mixed martial arts record

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Bellator 51 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feathe ...

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Hiromasa Ougikubo Hiromasa Ougikubo (born 1 April 1987) is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing as a flyweight in the Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional since 2006, he has also competed for Shooto, Vale Tudo Japan, and The Ultimate Fighte ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dantas, Eduardo 1989 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Bellator MMA champions Bellator male fighters Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city)