Eduardo Dantas

On May 28, 2019, it was announced that Dantas would move up to featherweight and face Juan Archuleta at Bellator 222 on June 14, 2019. He lost the fight via knockout in the second round.

Dantas next faced former UFC title contender Michael McDonald on July 13, 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.

Dantas was expected to make his second title defense at Bellator 177 on April 14, 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 October 6, 2017. Dantas lost the fight and his title by unanimous decision.

Dantas was originally scheduled to face former teammate, Marcos Galvão in a rematch for the Bellator Bantamweight Championship title at Bellator 144, but was postponed after an injury to Dantas. The rematch was then scheduled to take place at Bellator 150 on February 26, 2016, however, the bout was again postponed, this time due to an illness suffered by Galvão. The bout eventually took place on June 17, 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 December 2, 2016. Dantas was successful this time against Warren, winning the fight via majority decision.

Dantas was expected to face Mike Richman on March 27, 2015 at Bellator 135. However, the bout was removed from the fight card after Richman suffered an undisclosed injury. The fight eventually took place at Bellator 137 on May 15, 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.

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 January 9, 2014 that Dantas will defend his belt against Rafael Silva on March 7, 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 faced Joe Warren in a title unification bout on October 10, 2014 at Bellator 128. He lost the fight and bantamweight championship title via unanimous decision.

After compiling a record of 3–1, including a win over Shooto champ Shinichi Kojima, Dantas main evented Shooto Brazil 5. Dantas attempted multiple striking techniques including flying knees, before finishing his opponent with punches to the stomach.

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.

On 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.

Eduardo challenged champion Zach Makovsky at Bellator 65 on April 13, 2012 for the Bellator Bantamweight title. He won the fight via technical submission in the second round.

In August 2012, Dantas faced Tyson Nam 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 the fall of 2011, Dantas entered Bellator's Season Five Bantamweight Tournament. He defeated Wilson Reis 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.

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.

Eduardo Dantas (born February 3, 1989) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Dantas has mostly fought for Bellator MMA He has also fought in Shooto , where he has competed for the Shooto 132-pound world title. He is the former Bellator Bantamweight World champion. Dantas is currently ranked as the #5 bantamweight in the world and the #1 bantamweight outside of the UFC by fightmatrix.com.