CHICAGO, Ill. (August 24, 2010) – Mike “300″ Hayes came out with his hand raised in victory at Bellator 21 last June at the Bellator Season 2 finale in Hollywood, Fla. Not only did the hard-hitting Washington state-native earn a convincing unanimous decision over South Carolina native Steve Banks during the event, but he was also granted entry into the Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight tournament. While this would normally be viewed as a major achievement for an up-and-coming heavyweight, Hayes was left with a bad taste in his mouth and was admittedly not happy with his performance and inability to finish the fight.
“I was very disappointed with how the fight went down that night, I felt very flat and wasn’t able to stick to my game plan,” said Hayes. “This was my first fight in a large arena and I was caught up in the moment, it won’t happen again.”
Hayes went back to the drawing board after the fight. Returning to the Ring Demon Jiu-Jitsu gym in Redmond, Washington, Hayes decided to focus on his gas tank to prepare for Bellator’s grueling 12-week, eight-man heavyweight tournament. For a guy that was dubbed “300″ by an ex-trainer for the Spartan-like attitude he brings to the gym, this tournament is second nature.
“I have been focusing extremely hard on my cardio and conditioning, I want to be ready for anything in this tournament” said Hayes. “I have also been training my groundwork extensively. I want to be able to take guys down and use my power to finish fights.”
Hayes brings an impressive 12-3-1 professional record to the tournament and is currently riding a four fight win-streak. Hayes will likely have the toughest fight of his career at Bellator 26 this Thursday night at the Kansas City Power & Light District against on of the most feared heavyweight submission fighters in the sport, feared Russian submission specialist Alexey Oleinik (27-5-1). Among the most dangerous heavyweight submission artists in the sport, Oleinik owns 23 submission victories out of an astounding 27 wins.
Hayes would be lying if he stated that he wanted to put his ground game to the test in this fight, explaining, “I will be focusing on one thing, making sure this fight does not go to the ground.”
Hayes and Oleinik will be fighting for the last remaining spot in the Bellator Season 3. With a win Hayes would join undefeated Polish sensation Damian “The Polish Pitbull” Grabowski, fast-rising two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion Cole Konrad and Neil Grove, fighting out of England by way of South Africa.
Tickets for the event – which will also be broadcast LIVE nationwide on FOX Sports Net along with action-packed highlight shows that will air on NBC Saturday nights – are on sale now at ticketmaster.com
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.