Bantamweight Ed West granted release from Bellator, looks for quick turnaround

As far as breakups go, Ed West‘s departure from Bellator MMA sounds like the start of a courtship, not a divorce.

But sometimes in the pro sports world, athletes and their bosses part ways amicably – or mostly amicably. That appears to be the case with West and the California-based promotion.

West (18-7 MMA, 4-3 BFC) on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he has been granted his release from Bellator and will be exploring the free-agent MMA market, and Bellator officials confirmed the fighter’s release.

“I spent three years with Bellator, and I had a really good time with them,” West said. “It’s just not time for me to seal the deal yet on all the options that I might have in my career. I’m just really thankful for the time I had with Bellator. Bjorn Rebney always told me he’s enjoyed watching me fight, and I’m welcome back anytime I want. I’m really happy and comforted to know that.”

West, a three-time participant in Bellator’s bantamweight tournaments, and a finalist in Season 3, said the opportunity was there to stick around for another tournament run.

West, who trains in Tucson, Ariz., with a team that includes UFC bantamweight George Roop, instead will see what else might be out there rather than taking another run in Bellator’s tournament format.

“Bellator’s been really good to me and did everything they told me they were going to do,” he said. “At the same time, I’m 29 years old and I need to make use of all the options I can have in my career right now. Bellator’s left me in a good position to do that, actually. I’m going to try to see what I can do outside of Bellator in MMA. Right now, I’m in my my prime – I feel fantastic, and I really feel like I can do really good things in the sport. I’ve done the tournament format and I’ve been with Bellator for a while, but I’m really just ready to try something new.”

Rebney, Bellator’s CEO, lauded West for his seven fights in the promotion, which culminated with a highlight-reel head-kick knockout of Josh Montoya in February at Bellator 91.

“Ed’s a terrific fighter and an awesome personality,” Rebney told MMAjunkie.com. “He’s given fans great fights in each of the three Bellator tournaments he’s been in. I wish him the best wherever he goes next, and I’ll be rooting for him, fireballs and all.”

West often mimicked throwing fireballs at opponents in his fights – a routine that at least seems to have left his former boss with a good memory.

It would be easy to assume that trying something new for West would include hoping to wind up in the UFC – where he acknowledges that, of course, most fighters want to wind up.

But instead, he just wants to get busy.

“My immediate plan is to get another one or two (fights) right away,” West said. “I was in a tough situation last year where I wound up only fighting once the whole year, despite my attempts to do other things. That was an issue. I’d love to fight at least two or three times this year, and the year’s already half over.”

But make no mistake – if the UFC comes calling at some point, he’ll be ready, the same as he said he’ll be ready regardless of the letters in the promotion’s name.

“I think every fighter (thinks about the UFC), whether they admit it or not,” he said. “I definitely think they know who I am (from cornering Roop). They see me enough. But it’s not my immediate concern to jump into that. … I’d like to see if I could get a couple quick wins under my belt, then look at a situation like (the UFC) sometime next year. That’s really more of a long-term situation. Right now, I’m just anxious to get fighting again.”

West started his career 8-1, including a lightweight title for the Arizona-based Rage in the Cage promotion, before signing with the now-defunct International Fight League. He dropped three straight decisions there, but then went on a seven-fight run that included his first two fights for Bellator after dropping to bantamweight.

He reached Bellator’s Season 3 tournament finals, but dropped a decision to Zach Makovsky in a fight that crowned the promotion’s first 135-pound champion. After that, West was bounced early in two more tourneys, dropping a close split decision to future champ Eduardo Dantas in the Season 5 semifinals, then losing to Marcos Galvao in the Season 6 opening round.

He rebounded from the back-to-back setbacks with the first knockout win over his career against Montoya. Now West will look to build on that – even while being unsure just where his next fight will be.

“I’m looking around, and more than that, I have people looking for me,” he said. “I’m going to try to make a very smart decision. But my immediate future isn’t anything major – you won’t see me signing with anyone major right away. I’m going to look to take one or two here and there. I want to get my consistency up again and fight every couple months – get a nice little win streak. I don’t expect to be, ‘I’m released from Bellator – everyone should be on me right now.’

“I’m back in the pool now, and now I’m just in the meat grinder that is pro MMA. All these other guys would love to kill me and say, ‘I just took this guy out, and he did really good in Bellator.’ To them I say, ‘Come get it. If you’re 135, Ed West wants a piece of you.’”