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.”

For the latest Bellator news, Bellator rumors, and Bellator fight cards stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Nelson started with a blitz of punches right at the start of the first round which Imes was able to recover briefly. Nelson finished the bout with a crunching series of blows for the quick KO.

Schultz and Taurosevicius battled hard, with both surviving near-submissions and solid strikes. Ultimately, Schultz claimed the unanimous decision.

Miller’s was a quick finish, after an exciting first three minutes of the first round in which both competitors maintained a high-energy pace. Miller caught McGivern in a kneebar to win his first title.

The preliminary bouts featured athletes from four MMA camps, including Team Quest, Team Bombsquad, World Class Fight Center and Team Prodigy. Lightweight John Franchi (Cortland, N.Y.) of Bombsquad got the night off to an exciting start with a first-round submission victory over Frank Latina (Middletown, Conn.). Team Quest’s Aaron Stark (Portland, Ore.) then scored a unanimous decision over Bombsquad’s Lamont Lister (Philadelphia) in a light heavyweight bout. John Howard (Boston) then knocked out Nick Calandrino (Emerson, N.J.) of Bombsquad with a third-round flurry of strikes in an entertaining matchup of welterweights.

The second set of preliminary bouts began with Matt Horwich (Portland, Ore.) of Team Quest recording a unanimous decision over Joey Guel (Oregon) in a middleweight matchup. Josh Souder (Mason, Ohio) of Team Prodigy then wrapped up a quick TKO over Team Quest’s Zac George (Norman, Okla.), before World Class Fight Center’s Danillo Villefort (Pompano Beach, Fla.) scored a first-round submission victory via kneebar over Mike Massenzio (Paterson, N.J.) of Bombsquad.

The IFL’s next scheduled event is set for August 15 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., when it will unveil its new six-sided ring surface, dubbed “The Hex.”

For complete results from the event CLICK HERE.

• Ryan Schultz (154) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (154)
• Roy Nelson (264.2) vs. Brad Imes (249.2)
• Ryan McGivern (181.2) vs. Dan Miller (180.5)

PRELIMINARY BOUTS

• Mike Massenzio (185.2) vs. Danillo Villefort (184.7)
• Zac George (155.2) vs. Josh Souder (155.2)
• Matt Horwich (185.7) vs. Joey Guel (185.5)
• Nick Calandrino (170) vs. John Howard (170.5)
• Lamont Lister (205.2) vs. Aaron Stark (205.7)
• John Franchi (155) vs. Frank Latina (152)

The added fighters include two – Danillo Villefort (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Josh Souder (Mason, Ohio) who competed at IFL Draft events last September. Also added is Jim Miller (Sparta, N.J.), who is coming off an impressive victory in his IFL debut at the Izod Center in E. Rutherford, N.J. earlier this month.

Also newly named to the card are Lamont Lister (Philadelphia), Joey Guel (Olympia, Wash.), Fabricio Camoes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Nick Calandrino (Emerson, N.J.). The bouts involving the added athletes include:

• Lister vs. Aaron Stark (Portland, Ore.), 205 lbs.
• Clandrino vs. John Howard (Boston), 170 lbs.
• Souder vs. Zac George (Norman, Okla.), 155 lbs.
• Guel vs. Matt Horwich (Portland, Ore.), 185 lbs.
• Camoes vs. Miller, 155 lbs.
• Villefort vs. Mike Massenzio (Paterson, N.J.), 185 lbs.

As previously announced, three IFL Champions will put their respective titles on the line to headline the card, as Ryan McGivern (Bettendorf, Iowa) takes on Dan Miller (Sparta, N.J.) at middleweight, Roy Nelson (Las Vegas) battles Branden Lee Hinkle (Weirton, W. Va.) at heavyweight, and Ryan Schultz (North Platte, Neb.) defends against Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) at lightweight.

The preliminary bouts feature athletes from four noted MMA camps, including Team Quest, Team Bombsquad, World Class Fight Center and Team Prodigy.

Tickets are available via www.ticketmaster.com, the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office, and by telephone at 860-886-0070.

The now-complete fight card for the event is after the jump…

IFL Mohegan Sun
Friday, May 16, 2008 (order TBD)

Preliminary Bouts

• 205 lbs.: Aaron Stark (Portland, Ore.) (Team Quest) (2-2 IFL, 5-4 overall MMA) vs. Lamont Lister (Philadelphia) (Team Bombsquad) (0-0, 5-3)
• 170 lbs.: John Howard (Boston) (0-0 IFL, 8-3 overall MMA) vs. Nick Calandrino (Emerson, N.J.) (Team Bombsquad) (0-0, 5-0)
• 155 lbs.: Zac George (Norman, Okla.) (Team Quest) (1-1, 12-2) vs. Josh Souder (Mason, Ohio) (Team Prodigy) (0-0, 10-6)
• 185 lbs.: Matt Horwich (Portland, Ore.) (Team Quest) (6-4, 21-10-1) vs. Joey Guel (Oregon) (0-0, 12-5)
• 155 lbs.: Fabricio Camoes (Brazil) (World Class Fight Center) (0-0, 8-4) vs. Jim Miller (Sparta, N.J.) (Team Bombsquad/AMA Fight Club) (1-0, 11-1)
• 185 lbs.: Danillo Villefort (Pompano Beach, Fla.) (World Class Fight Center) (0-0, 6-2) vs. Mike Massenzio (Paterson, N.J.) (Team Bombsquad) (0-0, 10-1)

Championship Bouts

• 185 lbs.: Champion Ryan McGivern (Bettendorf, Iowa) (Miletich Fighting Systems) (6-4, 12-5) vs. Dan Miller (AMA Fight Club) (Sparta, N.J.) (1-0, 7-1)
• 265 lbs.: Champion Roy Nelson (Las Vegas) (Lion’s Den) (5-1, 12-2) vs. Branden Lee Hinkle (Weirton, W. Va.) (0-0, 13-9)
• 155 lbs.: Champion Ryan Schultz (North Platte, Neb.) (Team Quest) (6-2, 19-9-1) vs. Deividas Taurosevicius (Lithuania) (Renzo Gracie) (3-0, 9-2)