Tag: Bellator FC

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 09, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the signing of former Arizona State University wrestling prodigy and fast-rising mixed martial artist Eric Larkin to its rapidly expanding roster.

The 2003 recipient of the illustrious Dan Hodge Trophy, Larkin captured the 2003 NCAA Division I National Championship at 149 lbs on his way to becoming the only wrestler that year nominated for ESPN’s ESPY Award for best male collegiate athlete. During his time spent wrestling at ASU, Larkin became a four-time All American along with picking up four PAC-10 Championships.

“Eric Larkin’s wrestling pedigree is as good as anyone competing in our sport today,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Larkin possesses an overwhelming amount of athleticism which gives him huge potential to become a top fighter in the sport. Ben Askren and Joe Warren, both tremendously talented wrestlers, have dominated at Bellator. I’m excited to see if Eric can follow a similar path.”

Following graduation Larkin took a job as the Assistant Coach of the ASU wrestling team where he coached from 2005-2009. After an unsuccessful 2008 Olympic bid, the 30-year-old who had been wrestling since age 11 decided to follow in the footsteps of numerous fellow Sun Devil wrestlers-turned MMA fighters and began training MMA full time.

“Seeing friends of mine from ASU like Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway, and Aaron Simpson get to where they are now in MMA and working out with them all the time let me know that I should make the transition,” said Larkin. “They were always trying to talk me into it and finally I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll do it’.”

The transition has proven successful as Larkin has compiled an unblemished record of 2-0 since making his professional fighting debut in 2009. Larkin currently trains out of The Lions Den in Scottsdale, Arizona and is a close training partner of Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament Champion Ben Askren.

“I have the same outlook on my approach to the fight game that Ben [Askren] does: I’m going to take you down and ground and pound you until someone can stop it,” said Larkin.

Larkin currently walks around at around 164 lbs and plans to make his Bellator debut in the lightweight division before transitioning to featherweight to compete in an upcoming Bellator World Featherweight Tournament.

“I’m really looking forward to testing myself with Bellator. It’s time to gauge myself and see where I’m at,” said Larkin.
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 09, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the completion of the Local Feature Fights for Bellator 24 taking place in Hollywood, Fla. at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on August 12th. Joining an exciting lightweight fight between the ever-entertaining Yves Edwards and colorful, highly-regarded South Florida fan favorite Luis Palomino slated as the local main event, the promotion today confirmed four additional talent-rich fights for the Fox Sports Net event.

In a battle of Miami natives, the up-and-coming Nico Parella (2-1) will face Efrain “El Lobo” Ruiz (6-9) in a welterweight contest that will serve as the Local Co-Main Event. Both Parella and Ruiz will be hungry for a win after dropping their last respective fights which should provide fans with an explosive match-up at 170 lbs.

Hometown favorite Moyses Gabin (5-3) will take on Miami-based fighter Frank Carrillo (2-1) in a middleweight fight that is sure to bring fireworks. Both fighters have experience in the Bellator cage. In fact, this will be Gabin’s fourth appearance under the Bellator banner and second fight at The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Just two months ago at Bellator 21 Gabin won in convincing fashion with a slick Rear-Naked-Choke against Chris Boffil with just 20 seconds left in the first round. Carrillo is also coming off of a decisive victory garnered at Bellator 21 where he gained a 3rd round TKO against Sabah Homasi.

Also on the card will be Port St. Lucie, FL native Eric Luke facing off against Miami-based fighter Chino Duran in a featherweight fight.

Kicking off the night will be undefeated Orlando-based bantamweight prospect Brian Eckstein returning to the cage to take on Miami’s Tulio Quintanilla.

“Our Local Feature Fights give up-and-coming fighters a shot to perform on the big stage,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “This local talent combined with our stacked main card should provide a great night of fights.”

Bellator 24’s main card includes:

-A special non-title “Super Fight” between reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard (26-2-1) and former NFL standout Herbert “Whisper” Goodman (15-8);

-An opening-round fight in Bellator’s Women’s World Championship Tournament featuring the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound female fighter, Megumi Fujii, and dangerous veteran Angela Magana, the world’s No. 8-ranked female fighter at 115 lbs.;

-Another opening-round Women’s Tournament fight between the world’s No. 6-ranked 125-pounder, Lynn “Lights Out” Alvarez, and Florida’s Jessica Aguilar, the world’s No.7-ranked 115-pounder; and

-An opening-round fight in Bellator’s Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament between heavy-handed UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez and British power-puncher Neil “Goliath” Grove.

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 – tickets 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.

CHICAGO, Ill. (August 06, 2010) – Longtime rivals Jose Vega and Danny Tims will square off in a long overdue rubber match for an opening round Bellator Season 3 World Bantamweight Tournament fight as Bellator Fighting Championships returns to the Kansas City Power & Light District for the third time this year for Bellator 26 on August 26th.

Both longtime mainstays of the talent-rich Midwest MMA circuit, Vega (8-3) and Tims (9-2-1) each earned their way to the Bellator Bantamweight Tournament with impressive showings on their home turf during Bellator Season 2. Tims steamrolled over Strikeforce veteran Brian Davidson en route to a convincing unanimous-decision victory at Bellator 16. Vega knocked out Jarrod Card with a devastating left hook, just 32 seconds into the opening round at Bellator 22.

In their first meeting it was Tims who had his arm raised in victory. However, Vega didn’t agree with the final verdict.

“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,” claimed Vega. “I ended up losing a real close decision, but we all know why they gave him that, because it was in his hometown.”

Tims had a distinctively different recollection of the night’s events.

“I never admitted that. He’s crazy. I remember that I dominated the whole fight. He likes to talk a lot of trash. I can’t wait to fight him. I want to knock him out in the first round.”

When the pair met for the second time in the finals of a 2008 grueling single-evening, eight-man tournament, it was Vega who grabbed the temporary bragging rights.

“In the second round he reversed me while I was ground and pounding him and I up-kicked him right before he got up and he just tapped on the cage,” said Vega. “I think I broke him mentally because he couldn’t take me down or do anything.”

Again, there are two sides to every story and Tims’ is that, “I fought Jose in the finals of that tournament after fighting literally 25 minutes earlier, and by the second round I was throwing up because I was so dehydrated, so I stood up and told the ref I was done.”

Regardless of the conflicting perspectives of their previous meetings, Vega and Tims are both counting down the days to erase all doubt.

“It’s no secret that there is no love lost between these two fast rising bantamweights,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Vega and Tims both want this fight to settle the score. This fight should be a great kick off to our Bantamweight tournament.”

Bellator 26 will be headlined by opening-round fights in each of Bellator’s three-Season 3 tournaments – Heavyweight, Bantamweight and the Women’s World Championship – as well as a televised feature fight showcasing Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament semifinalist Steve Carl and four additional fights featuring top local fighters from the Kansas City area. More fights will be announced in the coming days.

Bellator has previously played to capacity crowds at the venue on April 29th and June 17th.

Tickets for the event are on sale NOW at ticketmaster.com and at The Midland by AMC box office in downtown Kansas City. General admission tickets start at just $20 in advance/$30 at the door. Ringside and Terrace tickets are also available for $100 and $50 respectively.

You can catch Bellator 26 and all of this season’s Bellator action LIVE on Fox Sports Net, along with action-packed highlight shows on NBC late Saturday nights

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 05, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that dynamic striker and Macon, GA native Bryan Goldsby has officially been added to the Bellator Season 3 World Bantamweight Tournament.

Goldsby sent a direct message to Bellator officials during Bellator 14 when he out-classed MMA trailblazer and heavily favored WEC veteran Jeff Curran in Curran’s hometown of Chicago, IL. With the victory Goldsby staked his claim as one of the eight participants in Bellator’s upcoming 135 lb tournament.

Goldsby is the sixth confirmed participant in the Bantamweight Tournament along with the explosive Jose Vega, young up-and-comer Danny Tims, Las Vegas-based Cobra-Kai Jiu-Jitsu instructor Ulysses Gomez, fast-rising Wyoming native Nick Mamalis and Minnesota-based powerhouse Travis “The Hurricane” Reddinger.

“Bryan Goldsby is one of those guys, very much like Toby Imada, whose record does not reflect the tremendous skill and potential that he brings to the sport,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He has very solid stand-up game mixed with speed and wrestling, which he displayed in his impressive victory over Jeff Curran, and that makes him an difficult match up for anyone in this tournament.”

Goldsby’s well-rounded ability comes from his diverse training background. He began wrestling in 7th grade before getting his start in Tae Kwon Do when he was just 12 years old. After finishing his military career in 2006 Goldsby began training jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai, to completely hone his game.

With a new level of confidence that stems directly from his recent victory over Curran, Goldsby fully intends to continue in his winning ways on his quest to become Bellator’s first ever bantamweight champion.

“When I get in there, I’m comfortable because I can hang wherever the fight goes,” said Goldsby. “I feel like I have the skills to beat anybody, I’m fine with whoever they decided to put in front of me. I’m just excited for the opportunity and itching to get this thing started.”

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 04, 2010) —Yoshiyuki Yoshida, a heavy handed Judo black belt and UFC veteran, has become the newest addition to the Bellator Fighting Championships’ roster, as he fights an unannounced opponent at Bellator 31 on September 30th for the chance to earn a spot in the Season 4 World Welterweight Tournament.

Yoshida is seasoned veteran of the Japanese mixed martial arts scene who quickly adapted to MMA in the US. He wasted little time choking out dangerous striker War Machine in his UFC debut with a vicious anaconda choke that came less than a minute into the first round. Yoshida also holds notable victories over the likes of Katsuya Inoue, Brandon Wolff and former UFC title challenger Dan Hardy.

“Yoshiyuki Yoshida is a multi-talented fighter with diverse abilities that could present problems for anyone in the welterweight division, said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “At Bellator we’re dedicated to providing world-class, entertaining MMA and fighters like Yoshida at allow us to accomplish just that.”

Known for his flashy submissions and knockout power, Yoshida has finished 9 of his 11 victories, with 6 being stopped early due to KO or TKO, and the other 3 being finished via submission.

“For me, this is a new challenge,” said Yoshida. “There are many great fighters in Bellator so I am really looking forward to this opportunity,” said Yoshida. “I really like American fans and it’s my dream to keep fighting in the States. After the September fight, my focus will be solely on winning the Welterweight Tournament. Until then, I’m taking this one fight at a time.”

Yoshida joins an increasingly deep Bellator welterweight talent pool that currently includes Bellator Champion Lyman Good, Season 2 Tournament Champion Ben Askren, and Dan ‘The Handler’ Hornbuckle.

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 03, 2010) — Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament runner-up Dan Hornbuckle will look to return to his winning ways following a June defeat suffered in the tournament championship when he faces off against the hard-hitting UFC veteran “Bad” Brad Blackburn at the historic Chicago Theatre on Aug. 19th as a special feature fight at Bellator 25.

Known for highlight reel knockouts and spectacular submissions, Hornbuckle (21-3-0) has handled 10 of his previous victims via KO or TKO, while finishing another 10 with his impressive ground game. The proud Native American cruised through the quarter and semifinal rounds of the Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Tournament with a pair of vicious first round submissions before eventually falling to former US Olympic wrestler Ben Askren in the finals.

With his last several fights being finished on the canvas in one form or another, Hornbuckle is eager to test himself against the experienced and dangerous veteran with an established reputation as a fellow knockout artist.

“Bad Brad is a really tough opponent and it’s going to be a good start to my win-streak,” said Hornbuckle. “Brad’s skill sets are going to complement mine and I’ll finally be able to unleash the The Handler’s stand-up without any wrestling tackles involved.”

With 26 fights spanning over a 9-year career, including notable stints in the IFL as well as the UFC, Blackburn (15-11-1) has compiled a number of impressive victories that include knockout stoppages of Pat Healy and Jay Hieron, along with notable wins over Ryo Chonan and Edgar Garcia. The Seattle native, who started training in boxing in his early 20s before quickly changing to MMA, says he is unafraid of Hornbuckle’s notoriously devastating stand-up game.

“Hornbuckle is a top-level fighter with a great record. I’m excited to fight him, but I’m not scared of anyone’s striking in MMA,” said Blackburn. “I’ve been around for a long time, wherever this fight goes, I’ll be comfortable. If he wants to stand and bang, let’s do it.”

“I’m thrilled that we are able to add another world class fight to an already stacked card,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Dan Hornbuckle is as hungry and dangerous as ever before and the same can be said for “Bad” Brad Blackburn. As an MMA fan I cannot wait to see this fight.”

Hornbuckle vs. Blackburn joins a talent-filled Fox Sports Net event that features undefeated heavyweight sensation Damian “The Polish Pitbull” Grabowski making his US debut in World Championship Heavyweight Tournament action against ground-and-pound specialist Scott Barrett. Undefeated Division I NCAA Wrestling Champion Cole Konrad takes on Spanish submission specialist Rogent Lloret in another heavyweight tournament showdown.

Additionally, Zoila “Warrior Princess” Frausto takes on the world’s No. 6-ranked flyweight, undefeated Jessica Pene in an electrifying opening-round fight in Bellator’s World Championship Women’s Tournament, and much more.

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

Tickets for the event are priced at $100, $75, $50, and $35, and are on sale NOW at www.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