Bellator 186: Bader vs. Vassell took place on November 3, 2017, at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania. The event aired live in prime time on Spike TV. In the Bellator 186 main event Ryan Bader made the first defense of his Light Heavyweight title against Linton Vassell. The co-main event featured Ilima-Lei Macfarlane against Emily Ducote for the inaugural Bellator Women's Flyweight title.

Bellator 219: Awad vs. Girtz took place on March 29, 2019 at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The event aired on Paramount Network and DAZN. The event was expected to feature a welterweight bout between Andrey Koreshkov and Lorenz Larkin. However, Larkin pulled out on March 1 due to undisclosed reasons. Koreshkov remained on the card facing Michael Jasper. A lightweight bout between Saad Awad and Brandon Girtz was announced as the new main event.

Bellator 197: Chandler vs. Girtz took place on April 13, 2018 at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. The event aired live in prime time on Paramount Network. Michael Chandler was scheduled to face Brent Primus in a rematch for the Lightweight title. However, on March 21, Primus pulled out of the fight due to a knee injury. As a result, Brandon Girtz stepped in as a replacement.

Bellator 178: Straus vs. Pitbull 4 took place on April 21, 2017 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut . The event aired live on Spike TV. Bellator returned to Mohegan Sun with a Featherweight world title fight pitting Daniel Straus against Patricio "Pitbull" Freire as the main event of Bellator 178. Straus and Freire have fought three times before; Freire won one by submission and once by decision, while Straus most recently won by decision. A middleweight bout between Ed Ruth and Aaron Goodwine was originally scheduled for this card, but failed to materialize. Ruth instead faced David Mundell.