Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (January 31, 2013) – Bellator MMA’s $100,000 Middleweight Tournament field is set as The Toughest Tournament in Sports continues Thursday, February 14th from Charlotte’s Bojangles Coliseum live on Spike TV. The night also features a spectacular main event as reigning Bellator Bantamweight World Champion Eduardo Dantas puts his title on the line against Brazilian striker Marcos Galvao.
Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting The Bojangles’ Coliseum Box Office, with tickets starting at just $37 dollars. The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 10 p.m. EST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 8 p.m. EST.
“The Professional Predator” returns to the Bellator cage as Brian Rogers is set to lock horns with Dan “Cosmo” Cramer in quarterfinal action. Both fierce competitors are coming off impressive showings, and for Rogers, the Ohio native and former teacher is well-aware of the opportunity at hand.
“I’m very privileged and excited to be back in the most elite MMA tournament in the world,” Rogers said. “I have the chance to show millions of people on Spike TV what I can do as a full time fighter. I’m ready to become a house hold name that’s synonymous with Bellator and MMA.”
Andreas “Sweet Swede” Spang bring his heavy hands back into tournament action when he takes on “The Rhino” Doug Marshall in the opening round of the Bellator Middleweight Tournament. “The Rhino” left Bellator fans wanting more after his 22 second opening round knockout victory in November, and is looking to carry over that momentum into his first Bellator Tournament.
“Everyone knows what I bring to the cage, and nothing is going to change for this tournament,” Marshall said. “My win over Kala Hose in November was just the beginning for what I’m going to do with Bellator. I’m coming for that $100,000 prize and a shot at the title.”
Long Beach native and knockout artist Brett “Fudoshin” Cooper enters the Bellator MMA Middleweight Tournament riding a four fight win streak and has his sights set on taking down French native Norman Paraisy in quarterfinal action.
The Tournament rounds out with two undefeated middleweights as the Mikkel Parlo battles Russia born Sultan Aliev. A true finisher, Parlo has collected stoppage wins in eight of his nine professional fights and will be looking to create fireworks on February 14th.
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 107 countries, Bellator’s majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. With over 150 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport’s top mixed martial artists. Bellator’s founder & CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator’s core philosophy is that title shots should be earned, not given. This belief gave rise to Bellator’s real sport, tournament-based format, which gives Bellator’s tournaments a true playoff feel that keeps the sport true and distances itself from the subjective side of fighting sports found in organizations that utilize a matchmaking/casting formula. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Newport Beach, California.
About Spike TV:
Spike TV is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
About mun2
mun2 is the leading Hispanic cable network for young millennial adults 18-34. From reality to music, on-air to digital, mun2 creates original content that resonates across a multi-screen platform. Young, vibrant and unabashedly Latino, mun2 has a distribution to over 38 million households. The network is part of Telemundo Media, a division of NBCUniversal.