As previously reported, Bellator featherweight champ Joe Warren will meet Summer Series tournament winner Pat Curran next in a title match after surgery to the hand of Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire will keep him out of action.
Press Release – CHICAGO, Ill. (November 8, 2011) — After a tournament run that included dominating victories over a trio of top competitors, Bellator Summer Series Featherweight Tournament Winner Pat Curran rightly earned his title shot and will take on reigning Featherweight Champion and self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on The Planet” Joe Warren early in 2012 LIVE on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX.
Originally, Patricio Pitbull was scheduled to face Joe Warren, as the explosive Brazilian secured his title shot with a Season 4 Featherweight Tournament win. But Pitbull suffered a hand injury, and just recently elected for surgery that will keep him out of the gym for 3 months. With the delay, Curran’s title shot has been moved up. Once healed, Pitbull will face the winner of the Curran-Warren Championship fight.
“The timing worked out here,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “To be able to temporarily lose a fighter such as Patricio Pitbull and then to be able to plug in another deserving title contender, Tournament winner and top five Featherweight in Pat Curran is a testament to the depth of our featherweight division.”
For Curran, the Crystal Lake, Illinois native and Season 2 Lightweight Tournament Winner enters the title fight looking to keep his tournament momentum intact. After an impressive Peruvian necktie submission victory over Luis Palomino in the quarterfinals, Curran collected a unanimous decision win over Ronnie Mann. With the victory, Curran secured a spot in the Featherweight Finals against Marlon Sandro, widely regarded as one of the Top 5 featherweights in the world. Curran pushed the pace early, and in the second round delivered a devastating, highlight-reel roundhouse kick to the head of Sandro that left the Brazilian down and out. (Watch Here: http://bit.ly/qKvQ5m). Curran was awarded the knockout victory, but more importantly a guaranteed world title shot.
“This is going to be a great fight,” Curran said. “. I know I have a size advantage going in, but the pace is always high with Joe, and is obviously a great wrestler, so I’m expecting the best out of him.”
Warren enters the fight in unfamiliar territory as the Team Quest product is coming off his first career Bellator defeat as former Cuban Olympian Alexis Vila took Warren down in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Bantamweight Tournament. That fight is in the past, and the reigning Featherweight Champion is ready to get back into the Bellator cage.
“Everyone knows I’m a world champ at featherweight,” Warren said.”I’m defending my belt, so there is a lot a pride on the line. I thought I was the best bantamweight in that tournament, but I got caught with a shot. I’m excited to show Pat what it means to be in a war.”
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.
About MTV2
MTV2 is a man’s best friend, available in nearly 80 million homes and with the highest concentration of males 12-24 and 12-34 on TV today. A vibrant mix of music, lifestyle and action sports programming, MTV2 has reflected the habits and behavior of young people since its launch in 1996. MTV2 is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
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.