Bjorn Rebney: We are not going to sign Jon Fitch
(themmareport.com)The UFC released Jon Fitch yesterday and the belief was that he could likely land in Bellator and speculation started that he could end up fighting in Bellator.
However, Bellator MMA Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney told TheMMAReport.com that they will not be signing him.
“I have a lot of respect for Jon [Fitch] and I have a lot of respect for anyone who has to courage to do what these guys do and the athletic ability to do what they do but we are not going to be signing Jon Fitch,” Rebney said prior to Bellator 90.
Fitch is considered one of the top welterweight fighters in the world and had a UFC record of 14-3-1. However, he has gone 1-2-1 in his last four fights which led to the UFC deciding to part ways with him.
Bellator’s welterweight division is one of the deepest divisions currently in Bellator and Rebney wants to continue the development of the fighters that are currently under contract with his organization.
Card set for Bellator 92 with middleweight and featherweight semis, six prelims
(mmajunkie.com)Card set for Bellator 92 with middleweight and featherweight semis, six prelims Four tournament semifinal bouts will make up the main card for next month's Bellator 92 event in California.
The promotion's Season 8 tourneys in the middleweight and featherweight divisions are in the final four, and each class will be pared down to two at Bellator 92. In addition, the complete fight card features six preliminary-card fights.
Bellator 92 will take place March 7 at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com...
Bellator 91 fight card official with M'Pumbu vs. Vegh, lightweight semifinals on February 28
(mmafighting.com)Bellator's impending debut at the Santa Ana Center in Albuquerque, NM now has a complete fight card line-up. The promotion announced Monday Bellator light heavyweight champion Christian M'Pumbu would defend his belt against summer series light heavyweight tournament winner Attila Vegh in the evening's main event. Numerically, the event is Bellator 91.
Vegh, 27, bested Zelg Galesic, Emanuel Newton and Travis Wuiff to win the light heavyweight tournament and earn the title shot in the summer of 2012. He currently holds a professional MMA record of 28-4-2, but is undefeated in his four Bellator bouts...
Injury again delays Held-Jansen lightweight final to Bellator 93
(mmajunkie.com)An undisclosed injury to Marcin Held has forced Bellator to again delay the finals of its Season 7 lightweight tournament, which was set to take place next month at Bellator 92.
Multiple sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Held (15-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) now will square off with Dave Jansen (19-2 MMA, 5-0 BFC) at Bellator 93, which takes place March 21 at Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine.
A replacement for Bellator 92's headliner isn't set.
Dejected by title loss, Bellator's 'Pitbull' Freire says 135-170 pounds possible
(mmajunkie.com)It's been a month since he fought, but Patricio Freire (17-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) says that's too long.
"From 135 to 170 [pounds] give me the toughest guy available on March 21," the Brazilian recently tweeted to his bosses at Bellator.
Freire said he "did the math" on the time he'd need to cut to 135 pounds and arrived at the March date, which hosts Bellator 93.
"I'm clear-minded and focused," he subsequently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I simply wish to keep fighting."
The Season 4 tournament winner clearly wants to erase the memory of his recent title fight with Pat Curran, which ended in a split call for the featherweight champ at this past month's Bellator 85 event. But Freire also remembers the long layoff that preceded his title shot and its negative effect on his performance.
"After my last victory in May of 2011, I underwent hand surgery and ultimately ended up waiting 20 months to face Pat Curran," Freire said. "Ours was a fierce fight. I pushed the pace for all five rounds despite being on the receiving end of some headbutts.
"I pressed the champion, and the result was a split decision. Since I was coming from a period of inactivity, I feel I can do better in a rematch if I could regain my fighting rhythm."
Bellator 89 weigh-in results: Dantas-Galvao, middleweight tourney official
(mmajunkie.com)MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 10 p.m. ET)
-Champ Eduardo Dantas (134.6) vs. Marcos Galvao (134.7) - for BW title
-Dan Cramer (185.9) vs. Brian Rogers (186.0) - MW-tournament opening round
-Brett Cooper (185.2) vs. Norman Paraisy (185.8) - MW-tournament opening round
-Doug Marshall (185.5) vs. Andreas Spang (186) - MW-tournament opening round
-Sultan Aliev (185.5) vs. Mikkel Parlo (185.7) - MW-tournament opening round
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 8 p.m. ET)
-Timothy Goodwin (135.9) vs. Mike Maldonaldo (135.9)
-Johnny Buck (170.5) vs. Chris Mierzwiak (170.5)
-Kyle Bolt (185.0) vs. Joe Pacehco (185.9)
-Aaron Johnson (185.5) vs. Brennan Ward (185.6)
-Mont McMullens (265.7) vs. David Mejia (264.3)
Sarnavskiy out of lightweight semis; Fischer gets Rickels rematch at Bellator 91
(mmajunkie.com)A broken hand will keep Alexander "Tiger" Sarnavskiy from the Bellator Season 8 lightweight tournament semifinals, and Jason Fischer will get a shot at redemption for the lone loss of his career.
Sarnavskiy (22-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC) was scheduled to face David Rickels (12-1 MMA, 6-1) at Bellator 91 later this month, with the winner advancing to the tournament finals. Instead, Fischer (6-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) steps in to take his place in what will be a rematch from this past November.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced the news on Monday.
Bellator 91 takes place Feb. 28 at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. The card features a light heavyweight title fight between champion Christian M'Pumbu (18-4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and recent tournament winner Attila Vegh (28-4-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC).
Bellator season eight finale set with featherweight title fight between Pat Curran and Daniel Straus
(mmamania.com)Newport Beach, CA. (February 6, 2013) - After nearly five years in the making, Bellator MMA made its long awaited debut on Spike TV in January as Bellator Featherweight Champion Pat Curran opened the night with a dominant win over star Brazilian striker Patricio Pitbull, reaching over 1.2 million viewers in the process. On April 4th, Bellator will close out its eighth season from Ovation Hall at Revel in Atlantic City, NJ as Curran once again puts his Bellator Featherweight Title on the line against relentless Daniel Straus live on Spike TV. The night will also feature the return of Tiger Schulmann products Lyman Good and Munah Holland, as well as the Bellator debut of New Jersey fan favorite Tom DeBlass.
Tickets go on sale Friday, February 8th at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com and by calling 800-745-3000. The Main Card 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, with doors to event opening at 6:30pm EST.
Widely regarded as one of the top two featherweights in the world, Curran brings a dominating 18-4 record into his latest title defense, including victories over Marlon Sandro, Roger Huerta, Mike Ricci, and Straus himself, as Curran collected a knock out win over Straus early in both of their careers. Even with the victory over Straus in his back pocket, Curran is well aware both fighters have grown tremendously over the last four years.
"This may end up being the most challenging fight I've faced up this point," Curran said. "Daniel is going to make for a very tough challenge, but I know what I'm capable of. I feel like I'm always growing as a fighter, and the sky is really the limit for me. I've got the belt, and I'm not letting anyone take it away from me."
Randy Couture to Star in ‘MMA Rescue’ Series on Spike TV
(sherdog.com)In addition to serving as one of four coaches on Bellator’s upcoming reality show, the UFC Hall of Famer has also been cast as the central character in another Spike TV reality program called “MMA Rescue.”
Ostensibly modeled after Spike’s “Bar Rescue” and “Tattoo Rescue,” the series will feature Couture traveling to fledgling gyms around the country to provide the proprietors with advice on how to make their businesses thrive. Spike will pilot the show with three one-hour episodes with the opportunity to do more. Kinetic Content will produce the show, and Couture and his manager, Sam Spira, have signed on as executive producers alongside Kinetic founder Chris Coelen.
Bellator Reality Show Coaches Include Couture, Shamrock, Warren and Greg Jackson
(bleacherreport.com)Bellator and Spike TV are pulling out all the stops for their new reality show titled Fight Master: Bellator MMA that debuts later this year.
It was first announced last week that UFC Hall of Famer and two-weight class champion Randy Couture had signed on to be a coach on the new Bellator reality show.
He was the first confirmed coach, but now three more very well known names in the MMA industry have been announced to join Couture on the new reality show.
MMA legend and former UFC and Strikeforce champion Frank Shamrock, MMA coach and guru Greg Jackson and former Bellator champion Joe Warren will serve as the other three coaches working with a group of 32 up and coming athletes hoping to make their way to the Bellator cage later this year.
Bjorn Rebney Speaks Out on Randy Couture, Eddie Alvarez, And the Real ‘Toughest Tournament in Sports'
(cagepotato.com)Bjorn Rebney Speaks Out on Randy Couture, Eddie Alvarez, And the Real ‘Toughest Tournament in Sports’
(Red rover, red rover, we call Captain America on over! Pic Props: MMAFighting.com)
By Jason Moles
Between preparing to launch a new mixed martial arts reality television show on Spike TV, to selecting venues for 2014, Bjorn Rebney‘s time for small talk is sparse. But the Bellator MMA CEO always seems to have a moment to discuss his favorite topic — how much he loves running the second-largest MMA promotion in the world, and what the future holds in store.
Early Friday morning, just after the Bellator 87 post-fight press conference concluded at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in frigid Mount Pleasant, Michigan, I had the opportunity to speak with Rebney about some of the important topics that have developed in the past few weeks, and the impact they would have going forward for the ever-expanding fight promotion.
You could tell the man was tired by the look in his sleep-deprived eyes. Sitting on stage, and probably still laughing on the inside after having watched lightweight contender Lloyd “Cupcake” Woodard shave his facial hair after losing a stipulation match to David “Caveman” Rickels not more than five minutes prior to our conversation (the clippings were still on the table next to him), the most powerful man in the building finally had a fleeting moment to collect his thoughts while resting for the first time that day…
Season 8 middleweight tournament joins Bellator 89 on Feb. 14
(mmajunkie.com)In addition to a previously announced title fight, next month's Bellator 89 event also will feature all four opening-round matchups from the organization's Season 8 middleweight tournament.
The event takes place Feb. 14 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. The main card airs on Spike TV following Spike.com.
As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported, the headliner features bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas (14-3 MMA, 4-0 BFC) vs. recent tournament winner Marcos Galvao (13-5-1 MMA, 4-2 BFC).
The eight-man middleweight tournament, meanwhile, features some familiar names.
The latest Bellator 89 card now includes:
Champ Eduardo Dantas vs. Marcos Galvao - for bantamweight title
Dan Cramer vs. Brian Rogers - middleweight-tournament opening round
Brett Cooper vs. Norman Paraisy - middleweight-tournament opening round
Doug Marshall vs. Andreas Spang - middleweight-tournament opening round
Sultan Aliev vs. Mikkel Parlo - middleweight-tournament opening round
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