Press Release – CHICAGO, Ill. (October 25, 2011) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that former Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman “Cyborg” Good will make his long-awaited return to the Bellator cage as the New York native squares off against promising Brazilian Michael Costa in a Bellator Season 6 Welterweight Tournament Qualifier fight on Saturday, November 26 from Caesars Atlantic City in New Jersey and LIVE on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX2 beginning at 9 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. CT. First fight will take place at 7 p.m. ET and will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com. The night will also feature the Bellator Season 5 Bantamweight final between Alexis Vila and Eduardo Dantas as well as two other spectacular fights that include Point Pleasant, New Jersey’s Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino taking on Patricky Pitbull and Brooklyn’s Phillipe Nover against Marcin Held.
Born in Harlem and currently fighting out of Manhattan, the explosive Good brings an impressive 11-2 professional record to the cage, including five knockout victories. The Tiger Schulmann product marched through the Season 1 Welterweight Tournament and captured the title to become the first ever Bellator Welterweight Champion.
Good was originally supposed to get back into the cage earlier this year against fellow welterweight Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle, but a nagging hamstring injury forced “Cyborg” out of the fight. The New Yorker has been on a long layoff since coming off a tough split-decision loss at the hands of undefeated Judo Olympian Rick Hawn in the Bellator Season 4 Welterweight Tournament Semifinals and is eager to get back to work.
“Coming off of that last fight, it really made me go back to the drawing board and start fresh,” said Good. “You’re going to see a new Lyman Good, but at the same time it’s going to be the old Lyman Good. I felt like I got away from some things that made me who I was as a fighter, and I needed to get back to my roots. I can’t wait to get into that cage, trade some leather and get back to my winning ways.”
For Costa, the Royler Gracie trained black belt has been waiting to make his Bellator debut, and will have his hands full with the veteran Good. Costa currently trains and teaches alongside current Bellator Middleweight Tournament Finalist Vitor Vianna at Wand Fight Team in Las Vegas, and a meeting with Good should produce fireworks.
“Lyman was our first ever Welterweight Champion and it’s going to be good to see him back in the cage and fighting for a shot in our next tournament,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Lyman always brings it, and Michael is the real deal with great skills, so this should be a very explosive fight””
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.