Tag: Bellator FC

Although unknown to the five-year-old or those around him as he ran the South Florida streets, Jose Vega’s destiny to become a fighter was laid out for him virtually at birth.

“When I was a kid living in Florida my uncles and my dad used to get drunk together a lot,” said Vega. “One night we were outside, and there was this kid next door that always used to fight with my cousin, and they said, “We’ll give you a dollar if you go over there and punch that kid in the face”, so I went over there and punched him in the face and we got to fighting.”

Close to15 years later Vega found himself pouring over MMA fight videos, while at the same time going on a tear through the amateur and professional ranks in his backyard of Missouri with literally not a single day of formal training under his belt.

All-in-all, Vega somehow managed to string together seven victories as a professional prior to ever stepping foot inside an MMA gym with all of his wins coming by way of submission, before a call from Bellator Fighting Championships recently gave the naturally gifted Vega the incentive he had been looking for to completely change his approach to the sport.

“I’m more complete now than I’ve ever been before,” boasted Vega in the days leading up to his bantamweight tournament fight with longtime rival Danny Tims at Bellator 26 in Kansas City. “Up until right before my most recent win over Jarrod Card with Bellator I had been training myself by watching fight tapes and instructionals. Now I finally have someone watching over me telling me if what I’m doing is right or wrong.”

And the results spoke for themselves as Vega put the favored Card to sleep with a crushing punch that catapulted the budding 135 lb prospect directly into his current place in the Season 3 Bellator Bantamweight Tournament.

Standing in front of Vega this Thursday evening in the Bellator cage is a man that is far from a stranger to the self-taught Kansas City bantamweight, Danny Tims.

The pair of Missouri-based fan-favorites first met at the amateur level in a closely contested battle that saw Tims’ hand raised in victory when the dust had a chance to settle. However, Vega didn’t exactly agree with the judges’ decision, stating, “Our first fight was in his hometown, and I don’t like to be a sore loser, but I got him to admit that I beat him right after that fight. I ended up losing a real close decision, but we all know why they gave him that, because it was in his hometown.”

There are two sides to every story, and Tims’ side to this one is that Vega is “crazy.” Tims states that he dominated the fight between the two from the beginning to the sound of the final bell.

The second time the pair met, the result couldn’t have been any more different.

“I fought him for the second time in the finals of a tournament in Sturgis,” said Vega. “In the second round he reversed me while I was ground and pounding him and I upkicked him right before he got up and he just turned around and tapped on the cage.

“I think I broke him mentally because he couldn’t take me down or do anything. He just quit.”

Again, Tims has a slightly different recollection of events when it comes to his second meeting with Vega, stating that dehydration at the end of a single-evening elimination tournament as the reason he tapped out, and stresses that the defeat had nothing to do with him breaking mentally.

This Thursday evening from the Kansas City Power and Light District, the score will be settled once and for all as Vega meets Tims for the third time in what is undoubtedly the biggest fight of either fighter’s professional career.

Vega will be entering the bout riding a wave of confidence and vows to silence his rival with his actions in the cage at Bellator 26.

“I’m sure that I can put him to sleep the same way I did to Jarrod Card if he decides to stand with me and I also believe I can submit him if the fight goes to the ground,” said Vega. “All of his submission wins are rear-naked chokes. You don’t see him throwing up triangles or armbars. It makes him one-dimensional. I’ve submitted people with triangles, gogoplatas, armbars, keylocks and a variety of other submissions, so I feel like I have a lot more options at my disposal in the submission department.

“There’s no way he’s going to take me down and grind me out. I see the same fighter that I fought at amateur. I don’t think he has any tools he can beat me with.”

Get your tickets now for Bellator 26, taking place live from the Kansas City Power and Light District on Thursday, August 26.

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 23, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the signing of heavyweight prospect D.J. “Da Protege” Linderman to its rapidly expanding roster. The California native brings an impressive 8-1 record to the promotion and is currently riding a three-fight win streak.

Although Linderman was signed after the completion of the Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament roster, he remains ready and available should there be complications with any of the remaining fighters.

“D.J. Linderman is a great addition to our heavyweight talent-pool,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He is a powerful heavyweight that has a tremendous amount of potential. We’re happy to have him on board and look forward to see what he does in our steadily growing heavyweight division.”

Standing at 6′2” tall and tipping the scales near the 250 lb. mark, Linderman has made use of an impressive wrestling base to rack up eight impressive victories in the heavyweight division during his two years spent as a professional in the sport. A skilled ground fighter, Linderman works for the takedown and looks to control his fights on the canvas before utilizing brutal ground and pound or making use of his dangerous submission arsenal.

At just 26-years-old, Linderman currently trains out of Team Do Somethin’ in Yreka, CA. Da Protege holds an impressive victory over Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament participant Mike “300” Hayes as well as a KO win against American Top Team veteran Mario Rinaldi last November.

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.

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 24, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that top welterweight prospect Tyler Stinson will have a second shot at Bellator tournament action this Thursday night, officially replacing a non-medically cleared Rory Markham. Stinson will take on Iraq War Veteran Steve Carl in a Season 4 Welterweight Tournament qualifier at Bellator 26, taking place at the Kansas City Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City, MO on Aug. 26th.

Stinson, a Kansas City native himself, has come a long way since winning a Bellator Season 2 open tryout in his hometown earlier this year. This will be the 24 year old’s third appearance under the Bellator banner. He was a late addition to the Season 2 Welterweight Tournament replacing an injured Sean Pierson. Although he lost his quarterfinal match-up with eventual tournament finalist Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle, he showed tremendous heart and resilience throughout the fight.

“Tyler’s skills and development as a fighter have consistently impressed me. He was preparing for a qualifier scheduled a month from now, but Tyler is always in fighting shape and was totally prepared to take this fight,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Both of these guys have put on great fights for us and I expect nothing different on Thursday night.”

Stinson has gone 2-0 since the loss to Hornbuckle, including a brutal Rear-Naked-Choke victory over Leonardo Pecanha in which he also broke the Brazilian’s jaw at Bellator 22 in Kansas City last June. Stinson brings an impressive 18-6 professional record to the fight with 12 of those victories coming via KO or TKO. A veteran of the Midwestern MMA circuit, Stinson is undaunted by the short notice.

“When I got the call, I was more than ready to jump on the opportunity. I‘ve been having to do short notice my whole career. It’s a good matchup for me,” said Stinson. “My striking is going to come into play and he is going to have a tough time dealing with that.”

Consequently, Stinson’s opponent this Thursday will also be looking to avenge a Season 2 loss to Hornbuckle. Prior to the Season 2 Welterweight Tournament semi-final defeat Carl held an impressive 7 fight win-streak. Carl’s budding mixed martial arts career is just four years old, but he already has notched 10 impressive wins with six victories coming by way of submission.

Carl vs. Stinson will take place at a catch-weight bout of 175 lbs. and has been officially announced as a qualifier for the Season 4 Welterweight Tournament.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator

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

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.