Falcão joined the Bellator Season Six Middleweight Tournament. He faced Norman Paraisy in the opening round at Bellator 61 and dominated the fight by using his superior striking and scoring multiple takedowns, Falcão won via unanimous decision. In the semifinals round, Maiquel faced Vyacheslav Vasilevsky on 20 April at Bellator 66. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Falcão then faced Andreas Spang in the finals at Bellator 69. After his win over Vasilevsky, Falcão was involved in a post-fight scuffle with Spang, who was brought into the cage to do a face-off with Falcão for the first time after Spang's fight. When they moved in close to each other, Spang immediately shoved Falcão. Startled by this, the much publicized temperament of Falcão rushed back at him with a knee to the ribcage and then lifted up his hand as if looking to throw a punch. Officials, Bellator commentator/former fighter Jimmy Smith and fight matchmaker Sam Caplan separated the two from one another. After getting rocked in the first round, Falcão opted for a more conservative approach by using his wrestling to grind out Spang and he won via unanimous decision. On 25 April 2012, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced that Falcão, the winner of the Season Six Middleweight Tournament, would face Alexander Shlemenko to crown the company's new Middleweight Champion. The two men met at Bellator 88 on 7 February 2013, for the vacant title. After a back and forth fight, Shlemenko won via knockout in the second round. On 25 July 2013, Bellator released Falcão due to ongoing legal battles in his home country of Brazil. The last straw was a violent brawl outside a gas station (see below). Post-Bellator After a year away from the sport, Falcão returned and faced Dibir Zagirov at Oplot Challenge 100 on 15 February 2014. Falcão won via submission in the second round. Falcão then faced top Polish prospect Mamed Khalidov at KSW 27 on 17 May 2014. Falcão lost the bout via armbar submission in the later stages of round 1. In a rematch from their Bellator 66 bout, Falcão faced Vyacheslav Vasilevsky at Plotforma S-70 5 on 9 August 2014. Falcão would lose via TKO at 0:37 in the first round. After two consecutive losses, Falcão rebounded in a three-fight win streak, with notable wins over Brett Cooper (Bellator veteran), Jesse Taylor (WSOF veteran) and Artur Guseinov (M-1 Global veteran).