The fourth tournament season for Bellator Fighting Championships has been a successful one so far airing good numbers with broadcast partner MTV2. This weekend the promotion will look to continue with their latest event Bellator XXXVIII, featuring the Season Four Light Heavyweight tournament quarterfinals.
Bellator 38 is set to take place on March 26 at […]
The fourth tournament season for Bellator Fighting Championships has been a successful one so far airing good numbers with broadcast partner MTV2. This weekend the promotion will look to continue with their latest event Bellator XXXVIII, featuring the Season Four Light Heavyweight tournament quarterfinals.
Bellator 38 is set to take place on March 26 at Harrah’s Tunica Hotel and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The main card will air live on prime time via MTV2.
Chris “The Professional” Davis (9-2) makes his Bellator debut carrying a three fight win streak. He’ll meet French fighter Christian “Tonton” M’Pumbu (15-3-1) who also makes his promotion debut. M’Pumbu enters the fight on a loss after a six fight undefeated streak.
Rage In The Cage veteran Richard “Rare Breed” Hale (15-3-1) carries in an 11-1-1 streak into the tournament, fighting for the first time under Bellator. He meets relative mma newcomer Nik “The Machete” Fekete (4-0), who earned two (T)KO wins in 2010, and also makes his Bellator debut.
Former heavyweight D.J. “Da Protege” Linderman (8-1) is another fighter stepping into the Bellator cage for the first time. He carries a three fight win streak fighting only once in 2010, a unanimous decision win. His opponent Raphael “Noodle” Davis (10-1) is on a nine fight win streak which includes seven victories by submission. Davis is 2-0 fighting in Bellator, having earned a unanimous decision against Tony Lopez at Bellator 34 last fall.
Undefeated Tim Carpenter (6-0) also returns to Bellator, having made his promotional debut at Bellator 33, earning a split decision over Jamal Patterson. He’ll meet promotion newcomer Daniel Gracie (5-2-1) who is 1-1 in his last two, coming off a submission win at the Israel Fighting Championship – Genesis event last November.
The Bellator 38 card appears as follows:
Main Card
Light Heavyweight Quarterfinal bout: Tim Carpenter vs.Daniel Gracie
Light Heavyweight Quarterfinal bout: D.J. Lindermanvs.Raphael Davis
Light Heavyweight Quarterfinal bout: Richard Hale vs. Nik Fekete
Light Heavyweight Quarterfinal bout: Chris Davis vs. Christian M’Pumbu
Press Release – CONCHO, Okla. (March 19, 2011) – The Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament fighters put on an action-packed show at the Lucky Star Casino as Wilson Reis, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Kenny Foster and Daniel Straus battled their way to the semifinals and one step closer to earning a title shot […]
Press Release – CONCHO, Okla. (March 19, 2011) – The Bellator Season 4 Featherweight Tournament fighters put on an action-packed show at the Lucky Star Casino as Wilson Reis, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Kenny Foster and Daniel Straus battled their way to the semifinals and one step closer to earning a title shot against Bellator Featherweight Champ Joe Warren.
Kenny Foster pulled off the upset of the night, becoming the first featherweight to move on to the semifinals in a true testament to tournament-style MMA. Avoiding an early takedown, Foster landed a knee to Erik Larkin’s face, opening a cut above the four-time NCAA D1 All-American’s eye. Foster smelled blood and outwrestling Larkin on the ground to maintain the top position, where he locked in a guillotine choke, forcing an end to the fight at 3:15 in Round 1.
Bellator veteran Daniel Straus and undefeated Argentinean Nazareno Malegarie took to the cage next, putting on a gritty 15-minute MMA show. Straus looked to be in trouble on the ground throughout the fight as Malegarie attempted several submissions. At the end of the three rounds, it was Straus’ dominating performance on his feet that caught the attention of the judges. Straus via a unanimous decision earned his way to the semifinals in a hard-fought battle.
Next up, Wilson Reis brought Zac George to the ground and forced him to give up his back early with a flurry of hammerfists. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Reis earned his third trip to the featherweight semifinals and ended George’s six-game win streak with a rear-naked choke at 2:09 in Round 1.
All eyes were on Season 2 featherweight standouts Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan as they closed out the night’s fights. In Round 1 action, Pitbull lifted Karakhanyan off his feet but Georgi defended with a guillotine attempt. The fighters battled through Round 2 mostly on their feet with Freire appearing to a have a slight edge in the momentum. It was all Freire in Round 3 as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt dropped Karakhanyan to the mat with a left hook to the chin, paving the way for a relentless ground-and-pound assault that ended the fight with a TKO at 0:56 in Round 3.
“The featherweight’s put on spectacular performances tonight at Bellator 37,” said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Fans have the opportunity to witness amazing fights when you let fighters control their own destiny, and I’m thrilled with the start to our fourth season on MTV2.”
Official Main Card Results:
Kenny Foster def. Eric Larkin by guillotine submission [3:15, Round 1]
Daniel Straus def. Nazareno Malegarie by unanimous decision [29-29, 29-28, 29-28]
Wilson Reis def. Zac George by rear-naked choke submission [2:09, Round 1]
Patricio Freire def. Georgi Karakhanyan by TKO [0:56, Round 3]
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. Bellator Fighting Championships is the first MMA promotion to hold a nationally televised tournament format. Bellator’s fourth season will begin March 5, 2011, airing LIVE on MTV2.
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.
The Pitbull Punch: Patricky Freire delivers an incredible knock out shot to “Razor” Rob McCullough at last weekends Bellator 36 in one of the four lightweight quarterfinal matches slated for that night.
The Pitbull Punch: Patricky Freire delivers an incredible knock out shot to “Razor” Rob McCullough at last weekends Bellator 36 in one of the four lightweight quarterfinal matches slated for that night.
Bellator Fighting Championships has made the decision to move the start time of Saturday’s Bellator 37 event up by one hour in order to avoid any conflict with the Ultimate Fighting Championships UFC 127 event.
Bellator 37 airs on MTV2 and was to start at 8PM EST (5PM PST) and carry-on till 10PM EST, ending just […]
Bellator Fighting Championships has made the decision to move the start time of Saturday’s Bellator 37 event up by one hour in order to avoid any conflict with the Ultimate Fighting Championships UFC 127 event.
Bellator 37 airs on MTV2 and was to start at 8PM EST (5PM PST) and carry-on till 10PM EST, ending just as the UFC pay-per-view began. But with the octagon action beginning at 9PM on Spike TV, Bellator got the okay from MTV2 to start their event at 7PM EST (4PM PST) avoiding any television conflict.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship does plan on airing two preliminary bouts on Facebook beginning at 8PM EST, which may not pose as much of a conflict for Bellator as the Spike broadcast had.
This is probably good policy on Bellator’s part as another rival to the UFC was removed after last weekends purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa.
Bellator 37 is part of the promotions fourth season and features the opening featherweight quarterfinal bouts. While UFC 128 is headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between Maurico “Shogun” Rua and top contender Jon “Bones” Jones.
Weigh-ins for Bellator 37, the latest event for Bellator Fighting Championships, went down at Hyatt Place in Oklahoma City this evening, featuring fighters participating in the promotions season-four featherweight quarterfinals.
Saturday’s Bellator 37 event will take place at the Lucky Star Casino in nearby Concho, Okla. and will air on MTV2.
Meeting in the featherweight quarterfinal matches […]
Weigh-ins for Bellator 37, the latest event for Bellator Fighting Championships, went down at Hyatt Place in Oklahoma City this evening, featuring fighters participating in the promotions season-four featherweight quarterfinals.
Saturday’s Bellator 37 event will take place at the Lucky Star Casino in nearby Concho, Okla. and will air on MTV2.
Meeting in the featherweight quarterfinal matches include bouts between Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Georgi Karakhanyan, Zag George vs. Wilson Reis, Nazareno Malegarie vs. Daniel Straus, and Kenny Foster vs. Eric Larkin.
The full Bellator 37 weigh-in results are as follows:
Main Card
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (146) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (146)
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Zac George (145.8) vs. Wilson Reis (145.6)
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Nazareno Malegarie (145.6) vs. Daniel Straus (144)
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Kenny Foster (145.4) vs. Eric Larkin (145.4)
Preliminary Card
Middleweight bout: John Bryant (186.8) vs. Jake Rosholt (185.8)
Featherweight bout: Jerrod Sanders (146) vs. Jeremy Spoon (143.6)
Featherweight bout: Roli Delgado (144.4) vs. Jameel Massouh (145)
Press Release – CHICAGO, Ill. (March 16, 2011) – Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the promotion’s newly signed multi-year alliance with its long-term Florida partner Redline Media Group, to produce a series of nationally televised MTV2 events in 2011 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, a venue which has hosted […]
Press Release – CHICAGO, Ill. (March 16, 2011) – Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the promotion’s newly signed multi-year alliance with its long-term Florida partner Redline Media Group, to produce a series of nationally televised MTV2 events in 2011 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, a venue which has hosted numerous Bellator events over the last two years, including Bellator’s inaugural event in 2009.
“The Seminole Hard Rock has been part of the Bellator brand since our very first show, and I’m thrilled that we will be producing a series of live, primetime Bellator events on MTV2 at the Seminole Hard Rock in 2011 and beyond,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will host Bellator and MTV2’s premiere summer series event on Saturday, June 25, 2011. The next two stops will come later in the year when Bellator returns to The Sunshine State on September 17, 2011 and November 19, 2011 – marking two key dates in Bellator’s fifth season.
Bellator brings a unique format of world-class fighting to fans with a 12-week, eight-man tournaments featuring some of the most dynamic fighters in the world, including Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez, Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard, Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Warren, 2008 Olympian Ben Askren, and Women’s World Champion Zoila Frausto.
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.
The fourth tournament season for Bellator Fighting Championships has been a successful one so far airing good numbers with broadcast partner MTV2. This weekend the promotion will look to continue with their latest event Bellator XXXVIII, featuring the Season Four Light Heavyweight tournament quarterfinals.
