Cole Konrad
Press Release – Newport Beach, Cali. (September 13, 2012) — After two years of complete dominance inside the Bellator cage, the King is hanging up his crown as Bellator Heavyweight Champion Cole Konrad has officially retired from MMA. While the announcement was a shock to many, Konrad knew this decision was coming sooner than later.
“This decision has been on my mind for a while, and the time was finally right to make the move,” Konrad said. “I wrestled my whole life and it was one of the only things I ever knew. When my college career was over, MMA seemed like the natural progression, but it was never really my passion. I thoroughly enjoyed my time inside the Bellator cage, but having the consistency and stability of going to the office every day is something that just made sense to me.”
Konrad will now begin his new career as an agricultural commodities trader, specializing in dairy products. The Konrad family has been involved in agricultural trading for generations, so the fit seemed natural. As Konrad prepares for his new journey, his time in Bellator isn’t something he’ll soon forget, and at only 28 years old, Konrad knows he has a long future ahead of him.
“I can’t say enough good things about my time with Bellator,” Konrad said. “I enjoyed every second of my time in the cage, and having a boss like Bjorn was a pleasure. Bellator does things the right way, and if I ever find myself back in the cage, there is no doubt in my mind it will be with Bellator.”
Wrestling since the age of four, Konrad became one of the most decorated wrestlers in Big Ten history. As a 2x NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion, 4x Collegiate All-American and 3x Big-Ten Conference Champion, Konrad carried his mat dominance to the cage and retires undefeated in his MMA career at a perfect 9-0, including victories over Eric Prindle, Paul Buentello, and Neil Grove.
“There are very few fighters in MMA who can completely control a fight like Cole Konrad could,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Cole’s a very smart and gifted individual, who will continue achieving excellence in everything he does. I wish Cole, his wife and family the very, very best as he moves into this new stage of his life. Cole was a great Bellator Champion, and now Sam and I will determine exactly how and when the new Bellator Heavyweight Champion will be crowned.”
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 Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide, Bellator’s majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on MTV2, in commercial-free HD on EPIX. Starting in January of 2013 Bellator will be broadcast on MMA television leader, Spike TV. With over 150 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport’s top athletes. Bellator’s founder &CEO, Bjorn Rebney, an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes, believed 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 political/subjective side of fighting sports. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of 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 Southern, California.
About MTV2
Available in approximately 80 million homes MTV2 is man’s best friend. Since its launch in 1996, the network has reflected the subversive interests and behaviors of young men with a compelling and diverse programming line-up inspired by ordinary guys who do extraordinary things. MTV2 is part of Viacom Media Networks, one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. For more information, go to www.mtvpress.com or follow us on Twitter @MTVPress.
About EPIX
EPIX, a joint venture between Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), its Paramount Pictures unit, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) and Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), is a next-generation premium entertainment channel, video-on-demand and online service launched on October 30, 2009. With access to more than 15,000 motion pictures spanning the vast libraries of its partners and other studios, EPIX provides a powerful entertainment experience with more feature films on demand and online and more HD movies than any other service. It is the only premium service providing its entire monthly line-up of new Hollywood titles, classic feature films, original series, music and comedy specials through the linear channel, video-on-demand and online at EpixHD.com, the leading online destination for movies.
EPIX has made the commitment to deliver the industry’s most expansive online collection of movies, making more than 3,000 titles available on EpixHD.com. The service is available to over 30 million homes nationwide through distribution partners including Charter Communications, Cox Communications, DISH Network, Mediacom Communications, NCTC, Suddenlink Communications and Verizon FiOS.
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.