Bellator today announced the opening round matchups for it’s season two lightweight tournamet, with Roger Huerta vs. Chad Hinton and Janne Tulirinta vs. Carey Vanier scheduled for April 8, Pat Curran vs. Mike Ricci slated for April 15, and Toby Imada vs. Ferrid Kheder set for April 22.
Bellator today announced that it’s April 22 Bellator 15 event, the third card of it’s upcoming second season, will take place at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, which hosted Bellator 2 and Bellator 11 during the promotion’s debut season.
Tickets for the Fox Sports Net-televised event go on sale today at Ticketmaster.com and the Mohegan Sun box office.
A press release announcing the news is below:
The Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., will play host to Bellator Fighting Championships again this spring when the promotion returns to New England for Bellator XV on April 22.
Tickets for the event go on sale today at Ticketmaster.com and at the Mohegan Sun box office.
“The Mohegan Sun is a spectacular casino and resort destination and was a tremendous partner for us twice during Season 1,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “We are very happy to be returning to the Mohegan Sun for this event on April 22nd.”
The Mohegan Sun played host to two Bellator events during its first season: Bellator II on April 10, 2009, and Bellator XI on June 12, 2009 — a show that saw Lyman Good win the first-ever Bellator Welterweight Championship over Omar de la Cruz.
“We are extremely excited to bring Bellator Fighting Championships back to Mohegan Sun Arena,” said Bob Yalen, director of sports and entertainment at the Mohegan Sun. “The events last year were a big success and we are thrilled to continue the partnership in 2010. Bellator always puts together fantastic cards, so MMA fans can expect some fierce battles here in Uncasville come April 22nd.”
The fight card for the event — which will be broadcast nationwide on FOX Sports Net and in highlight shows on NBC and Telemundo — includes one yet-to-be-announced first-round lightweight tournament bout and three first-round welterweight tournament matchups:
- Dan Hornbuckle vs. Sean Pierson
- Jacob McClintock vs. ‘Judo’ Jim Wallhead
- Steve Carl vs. Brett Cooper.
Hornbuckle (19-2) sent shockwaves through the MMA world last August with his brutal KO of PRIDE and UFC veteran Akihiro Gono following a devastating high kick. The fantastic finish went down as one of the most memorable of the year. The 9-4 Pierson, meanwhile, rides a four-fight win streak into the match, with all four of those wins coming via first-round stoppage.
McClintock, a 22-year-old product of Arizona Combat Sports, is undefeated in 6 professional fights, with each win coming via first-round stoppage. He’ll square off against Wallhead, an 18-5 MMA veteran from England known for his judo skills and affiliation with Team Rough House.
Carl is an Iraq War veteran who began training in MMA about 5 years ago at Fort Hood in Texas. He boasts a 12-1 pro record including a stunning submission victory over the previously undefeated Ivan Ivanoff at a recent M1 Challenge event in Bulgaria. He faces Brett Cooper, an 11-5 veteran of the IFL and Affliction who has won seven of his last eight pro bouts.
Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will make his anticipated return to the promotion on May 15 against Brett Rogers in the main event of “Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery” in St. Louis, Strikeforce today announced.
The Showtime-televised event is also set to feature Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Both matchups were previously reported by MMAFrenzy.com:
Tickets for “Heavy Artillery” go on sale to Strikeforce newsletter subscribers on Tuesday, March 23, before going on sale to the general public on Thursday, March 25, through the Scottrade Center, Ticketmaster, and Strikeforce.com.
Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields will become a free agent following his headlining title defense against Dan Henderson at “Strikeforce: Nashville” on April 17, while light heavyweight title-holder Gegard Mousasi may also complete his contract when he takes on Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at the CBS-televised event.
According to MMAjunkie, Shield’s contract lacks a standard “champion clause,” that would have required him to stay with the promotion if he won, and he will instead explore his options, likely including the UFC, following his bout with Henderson.
Meanwhile, Mousasi told MMAjunkie he plans to sign a long-term contact with Strikeforce following his matchup with Lawal, which would likely be a seven-fight deal, though a win would automatically extend his current contract for one year.
The fight card for Monday’s DREAM 13 event is now officially complete, as an expected matchup between heavyweights Josh Barnett and Siala “Mighty Mo” Siligla was announced earlier today for the March 22 card.
DREAM 13, which takes place at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, airs live on HDNet beginning at 3am ET and also features featherweight champ Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joachim Hansen, Yoshiro Maeda vs. Cole Escovedo, and the return of K.J. Noons vs. Andre “Dida” Amada.
The official DREAM 13 fight card includes:
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Cole Escovedo
Josh Barnett vs. Siala “Mighty Mo” Siligla
Bibiano Fernandes (c) vs. Joachim Hansen
DREAM Featherweight Championship
Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin, who moved up to light heavyweight in 2008, recently spoke to The Boston Herald about his likely matchup with Randy Couture, a run at the 205-pound title, and how much longer he plans on fighting:
“It’s not signed yet, but we’ve been working Randy now for a while. We’ve talked June, then we talked August and now we’re talking June again. I think we’re having problems with Randy’s scheduling. So I really don’t know what the plan is at this point.
“I’m at a point now where I’ve fought enough fights and it’s time for me to make a title run again and see where that takes me. That’s where my focus is Now. It depends on the speed of things. I would imagine I’ll probably end up negotiating one more contract before I retire. I’m looking at another two or three years of fighting.”
Franklin (26-5), who has five fights left on his current UFC contract, topped Wanderlei Silva by unanimous decision last June before suffering a first-round knockout to Vitor Belfort in September. He underwent abdominal surgery in January that was expected to keep him out of action until May.
Rampant rumors and reports over the last week have cast doubt on whether The Ultimate Fighter 11 coaches Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell would fight for a third time following the conclusion of the season, which debuts on March 31.
However, Ortiz spoke to SI.com’s Josh Gross on Thursday to deny that he was injured and forced to leave TUF 11, and maintained that he’s still scheduled to face Liddell later this year, barring an injury to either of the former light heavyweight champions.
Though Ortiz was hospitalized earlier this week for a “bad” flu, the latest update is in line with previous news from UFC President Dana White, who said “nothing happened” to Ortiz, while Tito and Chuck separately confirmed the bout was still on earlier this week.
While not officially announced, Liddell vs. Ortiz is expected to take place at UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver.
Former IFL middleweight champion Ryan McGivern has signed with Bellator and will compete in it’s upcoming, season two 185-pound tournament, the promotion today announced.
McGivern joins Bryan Baker, Jared Hess, Sean Loeffler, Matt Major and Eric Schambari in the middleweight tournament, which gets underway when Bellator’s second season kicks off on April 8.
The press release announcing the signing is below:
Ryan McGivern, the former IFL champion and longtime pupil of former UFC Champion Pat Miletich, is the latest addition to Bellator Fighting Championships’ upcoming Season 2 middleweight tournament roster.
The 30-year-old McGivern boasts an overall professional record of 13-6 including wins over UFC veteran Matt Horwich and WEC veteran Dan Molina. A native of Bettendorf, Iowa, he was a four-time letter-winner in wrestling at the University of Iowa.
“With his experience in a top NCAA wrestling program and in the IFL, Ryan McGivern brings some great credentials to our 185 tournament,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “With him and the rest of the middleweights that we’ve signed, I can tell you that there are going to be some very exciting fights beginning next month.”
McGivern is the sixth confirmed participant in Bellator’s eight-man middleweight tournament, joining Bryan “The Beast” Baker, Jared Hess, Sean Loeffler, Matt Major and Eric Schambari. The group boasts a combined overall winning percentage of .829 (68-14).
Bellator will also conduct tournaments at 145, 155 and 170 lbs. during its second season, with the winners in each division being declared No. 1 contenders to Bellator’s current champions. Each of Bellator’s 24 Season 2 and 3 events will be broadcast on FOX Sports Net, NBC, Telemundo and on The Score sports network in Canada.
Though McGivern has not taken a professional fight in more than a year, he has maintained a full-time training regimen at the Miletich Fighting Systems camp in Iowa, while also working full-time as a procurement specialist for the U.S. Department of Defense. He calls Bellator “the next major step in my career.”
“I had the chance to watch a lot of the Bellator fights last year, and it’s just an awesome promotion,” he said. “Getting in the tournament is just an incredible opportunity for me. Being on TV and being matched up against some really great fighters is extra motivation to be at the top of my game. I just can’t wait to get into the cage.”
Bellator today announced the opening round matchups for it’s season two lightweight tournamet, with Roger Huerta vs. Chad Hinton and Janne Tulirinta vs. Carey Vanier scheduled for April 8, Pat Curran vs. Mike Ricci slated for April 15, and Toby Imada vs. Ferrid Kheder set for April 22.
