Tag: Bellator FC

Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (January 7, 2013) – The title fights continue for Bellator MMA as the promotion announced today Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion Christian M’Pumbu will put his World title on the line against knockout artist Attila Vegh on February 28th from New Mexico’s Santa Ana Star Center.

Tickets for the event are on sale January 11th and range from $25-$90. Tickets can be purchased at ComcastTix.com, Bellator.com or by visiting The Santa Ana Star 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.

M’Pumbu defends the title that he won in the inaugural Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament by storming through the competition, delivering three highlight reel knockouts along the way to capturing the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Title. With previous victories over Richard Hale, Marcus Vanttinen and Stefan Struve, M’Pumbu is primed for another explosive finish on February 28th.

“I am extremely excited about this opportunity to defend my Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship,” M’Pumbu said. “I look forward to getting back in the cage and putting on a show for all of the amazing Bellator fans throughout the world. On February 28th, I will have my hand raised and remain Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion.”

For Vegh, the Slovakian finisher is currently riding an eight fight win streak, including his Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Finals knockout victory over longtime MMA veteran Travis “Diesel” Wiuff. For the man they call “Pumukli”, winning the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Title would be nothing short of a dream come true.

“This fight is all I am focused on,” Vegh said. “I’ve never worked harder for something in my life, and on February 28th, I will hold that belt and become the new Bellator World Champion.”

“Both Christian and Attila made incredible runs through their respective tournaments, and I expect nothing but fireworks on February 28th,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “New Mexico’s own Orthrus Promotions is going to provide Bellator with tremendous support and we’re very excited to begin our partnership.”

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.
About Orthrus Promotions

Orthrus Promotions is a professional entertainment company, bringing the very best in entertainment value. Orthrus currently operates and hosts concerts in several states, but proudly calls New Mexico their home. Originally a music entertainment company, Orthrus has now expanded into the fight scene, partnering with Bellator, to bring great MMA events to the people of New Mexico.

Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (January 4, 2013) – After nearly four months in the making, the Bellator MMA Featherweight Tournament Finals will be concluded from Salt Lake City’s Maverik Center on February 21st as Utah’s own Rad Martinez will battle Russian striker Shahbulat Shamhalaev for a guaranteed World Title Shot and a $100,000 Bellator Tournament prize live on Spike TV. 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.

For Martinez, the West Jordan native makes his Utah homecoming riding an impressive five fight win streak, including Bellator Tournament victories over top featherweights Nazareno Malegarie and Wagnney Fabiano. Already tasked with preparing for the biggest fight of his career, Martinez knows what’s at stake with his hometown crowd behind him.

“To have the opportunity to fight in Salt Lake City for the Bellator Featherweight Tournament Championship is just a dream come true,” Martinez said. “Utah has a great base of MMA fans, but we’ve never had a big MMA promotion come to Salt Lake City, so it’s a great honor to be headlining Utah’s first large scale MMA event.”

Shamhalaev re-enters the Bellator cage after collecting two devastating knockouts and has his sights set on a guaranteed title shot with a victory of Martinez. Armed with an arsenal of explosive jabs and strikes, Martinez is aware of the challenges that await him on February 21st.

“Shamhalaev is incredibly quick and versatile, and brings a lot of things to the table, so I know I have my work cut out for me,” Martinez said. “Fans know that any time I step into the cage you can expect a war, and nothing will change for this fight.”

The night is also scheduled to host Bellator’s Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinals. The tournament begins January 17th live on Spike, and is headlined by “King Mo” Lawal, “Babalu” Sobral and Seth “Silverback” Petruzelli.

“A fight between Rad and Shahbulat would be special anywhere you put it,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “But to have the opportunity to make this fight happen in Salt Lake City with the ties Rad has to Utah is an incredible opportunity we couldn’t pass up. It’s been a long time coming, but February 21st is shaping up to be a huge night of fights.”

“We are proud to host such a prestigious event like BellatorMMA that will showcase our venue, Utah’s own Rad Martinez and, most importantly, our patrons to Spike TV’s impressive viewership”, stated Maverik Center’s Director of Marketing Steve Kun. “This is an event that must be seen in person as one truly receives great value in the number of fights on the card. We expect a huge turn out with Rad competing for the Bellator Featherweight Tournament Championship.”

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.

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 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.

Press Release – Newport Beach, CA. (January 2, 2013) – MMA is coming home to Spike TV, as the MMA industry leader will debut Bellator 360, a Spike original series highlighting the biggest fights in Bellator history, while previewing upcoming Bellator World Title Fights. The first hour long installment will feature Bellator Lightweight World Champion Michael Chandler, as the undefeated star will relive his epic submission victory in the fight of the year against Eddie Alvarez, while also previewing his January 17th World Title defense against former Judo Olympian Rick Hawn from Southern California’s Bren Center.

Bellator 360 debuts Thursday, January 3rd at 10pm EST on Spike TV, and will be followed by another brand new installment of Bellator 360, featuring Bellator’s stacked collection of middleweights including an inside look at Russian striker Alexander Shlemenko and explosive Brazilian Maiquel Falcao, as they prepare for their Bellator Middleweight World Title fight on February 7th. Thursday, January 10th will also feature two brand new back to back episodes of Bellator 360, as Ben Askren will look back on his undefeated run through the Bellator ranks, while Bellator Featherweight World Champion Pat Curran will preview his upcoming World Title defense against Patricio Pitbull.

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.