Ben Saunders was defeated in the season eight welterweight tournament final in September against Douglas Lima and the two time tournament finalist is no longer a member of the organization. 
The release of Saunders was initially reported by MMA Mania and Bellator MMA confirmed the release to TheMMAReport.com on Monday evening.
Saunders (16-6-2) was signed by Bellator in 2011 after he was released by the UFC and had a record of 7-3 in Bellator. Five of his seven victories in Bellator came by stoppage, including a memorable head kick knockout against Raul Amaya at Bellator 90 earlier this year. He appeared in three welterweight tournaments in Bellator and made it to the finals two times. He was defeated in both tournament finals by Lima and both defeats came by knockout.
With Bellator MMA being a tournament based organization, it’s understandable how they would decide to part ways with Saunders. They have done this with other fighters before and it will happen again.
Saunders should be able to find a new organization to fight for in the near future, since he has a fighting style that fans like to see.