Bellator Fighting Championships is set to move to Spike TV this Thursday when the promotion opens it’s Season Eight Tournament. The television event, Bellator 85, will feature two title bouts as lightweight title holder Michael Chandler defends his belt for the first time versus Season Six tourny winner Rick Hawn, while featherweight champ Pat Curran takes on Season Four tournament winner Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire. The action begins on Spike at 10pm EST.
Bellator Fighting Championships is set to move to Spike TV this Thursday when the promotion opens it’s Season Eight Tournament. The television event, Bellator 85, will feature two title bouts as lightweight title holder Michael Chandler defends his belt for the first time versus Season Six tourny winner Rick Hawn, while featherweight champ Pat Curran takes on Season Four tournament winner Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire. The action begins on Spike at 10pm EST.
From underdog to top dog, get to know Bellator MMA’s undefeated lightweight world champion as he prepares to defend his title against Rick Hawn Thursday, January 17.
From underdog to top dog, get to know Bellator MMA’s undefeated lightweight world champion as he prepares to defend his title against Rick Hawn Thursday, January 17.
Press Release – Newport Beach, California. (January 14, 2013) —The weigh-in and pre-fight press conference for Bellator MMA will take place Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. PST inside Irvine’s Bren Center, located at 100 Bren Events Center, Irvine, CA 92697. Bellator MMA will take place at Irvine’s Bren Center on Thursday, January 17th with the first […]
Press Release – Newport Beach, California. (January 14, 2013) —The weigh-in and pre-fight press conference for Bellator MMA will take place Wednesday at 5:00 P.M. PST inside Irvine’s Bren Center, located at 100 Bren Events Center, Irvine, CA 92697. Bellator MMA will take place at Irvine’s Bren Center on Thursday, January 17th with the first fight taking place at 5 p.m. PST and streaming LIVE on Spike.com. The televised portion of the night will begin at 7 p.m. PST and will air LIVE on Spike TV.
All participants from Friday night’s event will be on hand, including Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran, Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler, along with title challengers Patricio Pitbull and Rick Hawn.
The event will be emceed by Bellator cage announcer Michael C. Williams and Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith.
As always the weigh-in is open to both the public and media.
The full fight card is listed below:
MAIN CARD:
Bellator Featherweight Championship Fight: Pat Curran (17-4) vs. Patricio Pitbull (17-1)
Bellator Lightweight Championship Fight: Michael Chandler (10-0) vs. Rick Hawn (14-1)
Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Mikhail Zayats (19-6) vs. Babalu Sobral (37-9)
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Seth Petruzelli (14-6) vs. Jacob Noe (9-1)
Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal Fight: Emanuel Newton (18-7) vs. Atanas Djambazov (17-2)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Hector Ramirez (9-4) vs. Jason Lambert (24-13)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Aaron Miller (12-8) vs. Joe Camacho (13-17)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Joe Williams (7-1) vs. Jamie Yager (6-3)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Savant Young (10-9) vs. Mike Guymon (14-5)
Catchweight Feature Fight(165 lbs.): Brian Warren(18-15) vs. J.J. Ambrose (17-4)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Mario Navarro(4-2) vs. Cleber Luciano(7-4)
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, 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 Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of 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.
Eddie Alvarez speaks to Inside MMA about his contract quagmire with Bellator, Alvarez admitted that the main sticking point is the Pay Per View portion of the contract
Eddie Alvarez speaks to Inside MMA about his contract quagmire with Bellator, Alvarez admitted that the main sticking point is the Pay Per View portion of the contract
Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (January 11th, 2013) – The tournament field is set as Bellator MMA has announced today the final tournament pairings in the Season 8 Lightweight Bracket. Emanating from Michigan’s Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort on January 31, submission ace Ricardo Tirloni will battle the undefeated Will Brooks in the quarterfinals […]
Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (January 11th, 2013) – The tournament field is set as Bellator MMA has announced today the final tournament pairings in the Season 8 Lightweight Bracket. Emanating from Michigan’s Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort on January 31, submission ace Ricardo Tirloni will battle the undefeated Will Brooks in the quarterfinals of the Bellator MMA Lightweight Tournament live on Spike.
Tickets for the event are on sale now and are available at StarTickets.com, Bellator.com and The Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort Box Office. Tickets are priced from $20-$65. The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 10 p.m. EST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 8 p.m. EST.
Brooks joins Bellator fresh of a brutal knockout of longtime MMA veteran Satoru Kitaoka, who holds notable victories over Carlos Condit, Paul Daley, and Takanori Gomi. Currently splitting time between his Chicago home and American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Brooks has been preparing for this opportunity his entire career, and is counting the days until January 31st.
“I’m just really excited about this opportunity, the whole idea of a tournament really gets me going, and I just love it, and it’s why I wanted to come to Bellator,” Brooks said. “This is what it’s all about, and I’m ready to go out and get it. Fighting on Spike is dream, this organization is on the rise, and I can’t wait to be a part of it. When I have millions of people watching, that’s when I step up my game, and it’s exactly what you will see on January 31st.”
For Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ricardo Tirloni, the chance to get back into another tournament is all the 29 year old could ask for after suffering a close split-decision loss at the hands of Dave Jansen. Training under the tutelage under Luta Livre black belt Marcelo Brigadeiro, Tirloni is primed for another long tournament run.
With Tirloni vs. Brooks set, the field is now complete as Lloyd Woodard will battle David Rickels, while Thiago Michel will take on Tiger Sarnavskiy, and Patricky Pitbull battles Guillaume DeLorenzi.
“With the latest additions of Will Brooks and Ricardo Tirloni, this Lightweight Tournament is just a stacked collection of true finishers, and I expect another huge night inside Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort.”
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, 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 Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of 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.
Traveled veteran Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1, 1NC) is set to debut inside of the Bellator cage later this month on Spike TV when he faces Przemyslaw Mysiala in the opening quarterfinals of the promotions Season Eight light heavyweight tournament. When Lawal signed with Bellator he was also signed by TNA Impact Wrestling, becoming the […]
Photos by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Forza LLC via Getty Images
Traveled veteran Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1, 1NC) is set to debut inside of the Bellator cage later this month on Spike TV when he faces Przemyslaw Mysiala in the opening quarterfinals of the promotions Season Eight light heavyweight tournament.
When Lawal signed with Bellator he was also signed by TNA Impact Wrestling, becoming the first pro-mma fighter to compete in mixed martial arts and pro-wrestling at the same time.
Recently news surfaced that ‘King Mo’ had more than just mma and pro-wrestling added to his contract. According to BloodyElbow.com, Lawal also has a boxing clause in his contract and is hoping that he and former Youtube sensation, TUF 10 heavyweight ‘Kimbo Slice’ can meet in the ring, possibly on Spike TV.
I got a boxing clause in my contract. I just gotta get through this tournament and be healthy. Bjorn said that he was going to get me fights. But the thing with the contract is that we gotta agree on the opponent. But someone like Kimbo Slice? I’d be alright. We could hype that up, they can get behind me…
I think King Mo vs. Kimbo Slice would be a good boxing match. I got good training, he’s got good training. I want to make it happen. So my main goal is to get through this tournament, win it, defend it, defend the belt once or twice and after that get that fight with Kimbo.
That’s why I’ve been training with Jeff Mayweather so hard. Trying to get my boxing skills up. I think me vs. Kimbo would be a good fight. We could put it on Spike TV or something!
Check out the rest of ‘King Mo’s’ comments on why he wants ‘Kimbo Slice’ and what his own personal goals are by boxing, just hit the link above.
Lawal had his last mixed martial arts bout just over a year ago, defeating Lorenz Larkin by knockout. The result was changed to a “No Contest” after ‘King Mo’ tested positive for anabolic steroids and was suspended nine months. Lawal was released by the Strikeforce promotion, and after a near career ending staph infection in his leg, was signed by Bellator.
