Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (February 5, 2013) – After nearly capturing his first Bellator MMA Welterweight Tournament crown, “The Beast” Bryan Baker will get another shot at glory when he replaces an injured Brent Weedman in the Season 8 Bellator MMA Welterweight Tournament on February 21st from Utah’s Maverik Center live on Spike TV. Baker will face “The Phenom” Douglas Lima, while Ben “Killa B’ Saunders takes on fellow Florida native Raul Amaya for a spot in the Welterweight Tournament Finals.
Tickets for the event start as low as $40 and can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com and the Maverik Center Box Office. The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. MST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 6 p.m. MST.
Only 27, Baker brings a wealth of experience to the cage, compiling an 18-4 record in his impressive career including victories over Ben Saunders, Jeremy Horn, Joe Riggs and Matt Horwich. Already a veteran of The Toughest Tournament in Sports, “The Beast” is fully aware of what’s at stake.
“When I got the call, I was ready to rock & roll,” Baker said. “I look at this opportunity as an absolute blessing. With our new child in the picture, this is an opportunity to make my family proud, show everyone what I’ve been working on, and let The Beast go at it like he always does. Douglas is a strong, powerful guy but I’m going to use my reach advantage and show my strength. This is my destiny.”
“You never like to see anyone suffer an injury, especially a quarterfinal winner, but when we learned of Brent’s injury, Bryan was the first guy we had in mind, and like a true professional he jumped at the opportunity,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney.
The night will also feature a $100,000 Featherweight Tournament Finals fight between Utah’s Own Rad Martinez battles the dynamic Russian striker Shahbulat Shamhalaev, while King Mo battles “The Hardcore Kid” Emanuel Newton for a spot in the Light Heavyweight Finals.
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 107 countries, Bellator’s majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. With over 150 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport’s top mixed martial artists. Bellator’s founder & CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator’s core philosophy is that title shots should be earned, not given. This belief gave rise to Bellator’s real sport, tournament-based format, which gives Bellator’s tournaments a true playoff feel that keeps the sport true and distances itself from the subjective side of fighting sports found in organizations that utilize a matchmaking/casting formula. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Newport Beach, California.
About Spike TV:
Spike TV is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
About mun2
mun2 is the leading Hispanic cable network for young millennial adults 18-34. From reality to music, on-air to digital, mun2 creates original content that resonates across a multi-screen platform. Young, vibrant and unabashedly Latino, mun2 has a distribution to over 38 million households. The network is part of Telemundo Media, a division of NBCUniversal.
