involving de Leonardis, he faced Bojan Kosednar. Held won the fight with a kneebar submission in the second round. According to mmarocks, Held signed a contract to compete against Juha-Pekka Vainikainen in November at Iron Fist 3. However, for unknown reasons, Held was forced to pull out of the fight and was replaced by Anthony Durnell. Bellator MMA On October 14, Held signed with Bellator MMA to compete in their Season Four Lightweight Tournament. He faced wrestler Michael Chandler in the opening quarterfinal round at Bellator 36. He lost via arm-triangle choke submission in the first round. Held faced Phillipe Nover at Bellator 59. He won the fight via split decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28). Sherdog.com scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Nover. Held faced Murad Machaev in the opening round of the Bellator Season 7 Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal on October 19, 2012, at Bellator 77. He won the fight via unanimous decision. He faced Rich Clementi in the semifinals on November 16, 2012, at Bellator 81 and won via submission in the second round. Held was expected to face Dave Jansen for the Season Seven Tournament Final at Bellator 84 but Held was not allowed in the Horseshoe casino, in Hammond, Indiana, where the event was being held since he was only 20 years old, and therefore the fight has been pushed to sometime during Bellator Fighting Championships: Season Eight. The bout with Jansen was rescheduled for March 21, 2013, at Bellator 93. Held lost the fight via unanimous decision. Held rebounded with a first-round KO win over Ryan Healy at Bellator 101. Held next faced Rodrigo Cavalheiro in the Bellator Season 10 Lightweight Tournament quarterfinals at Bellator 113. He won the fight via submission in the first round. He faced Derek Anderson in the semifinals at Bellator 117 and won via submission in the second round. He faced Patricky Pitbull in the finals at Bellator 126 on September 26, 2014. Held dominated the fight and won via unanimous decision. Held faced Alexander Sarnavskiy at Bellator 136 on April 10, 2015. He won the fight via verbal submission in the third round. Held faced Will Brooks for the Bellator Lightweight Championship on November 6, 2015, at Bellator 145. Despite popping Brooks' knee in the opening round, Held lost the fight via unanimous decision. Held had a rematch with Dave Jansen on May 20, 2016, at Bellator 155. He won