Bellator Returns To Canada As Casino Rama Hosts Bellator 119 Friday, May 9 Live On Spike

Heavyweight Tournament Finals Featured, Canada’s Own John Alessio Returns

Newport Beach, Calif. (February 11, 2014) – Bellator will make its highly anticipated return to Canada on Friday, May 9^th as the promotion will return to Ontario’s Casino Rama for Bellator 119, live on Spike TV. The night will feature the finals of Bellator’s Season 10 Heavyweight Tournament, as well as the return of Canadian lightweight John Alessio.

The event will broadcast live at 9 p.m. EST/ 8 p.m. CST on Spike TV. The preliminary card will be streamed live and free on Spike.com beginning at7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event will be on sale Monday, February 17th and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.ca, Bellator.com, or by visiting the Casino Rama Box Office.

The Bellator Season 10 Heavyweight Tournament will feature Alexander Volkov, Mark Holata, Peter Graham, Mighty Mo, Ryan Martinez, Lavar Johnson, Rich Hale and Blagoi Ivanov. With reigning Bellator Heavyweight Champion Vitaly Minakov set to defend his title against Cheick Kongo on Friday, April 4^th, the heavyweight division will be on the full display throughout Bellator’s long awaited Season 10.

John Alessio will also return to the Bellator cage in a lightweight feature fight that will be featured on the Spike.com portion of the night.

More information on the Bellator 119 fight card will be made available in the coming weeks.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/BellatorMMA    

Bellator Brings Explosive Night of Fights to Casino Rama November 2nd

Tickets Now On-Sale for Bellator 79; Dantas, Daley and Ford Headline

Newport Beach, Cali. (August 21, 2012) — After hosting a collection of the most memorable and jaw dropping moments in Bellator history, Bellator Fighting Championships is returning to Casino Rama on November 2 for Bellator 79 LIVE on MTV2, The Score in Canada and in commercial free HD on EPIX beginning at 8 p.m. EST. Doors open at 6pm EST, with the event also being broadcast on mun2 in Spanish language, as well as streamed on Spike.com.

Tickets are on sale now and are available at Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com and in-person at the Casino Rama Box Office. Tickets are priced from $25-$175.

“From Michael Chandler’s vicious knockout of MMA legend Akihiro Gono to Douglas Lima’s brutal finish over Ben Saunders, we’ve seen some tremendous fights at Casino Rama, and I expect the same on November 2,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Our fans in Ontario have always been top notch, and they are for another great night with names like Eduardo Dantas, Paul Daley and Ryan ‘The Real Deal’ Ford.”

Known as one of the greatest bantamweights in MMA, Eduardo Dantas burst onto the MMA scene in 2011 with three impressive victories to capture the Bellator Season 5 Bantamweight Tournament crown, and guarantee his shot against then Bellator Champion Zach Makovsky. With momentum clearly on his side, Dantas was in complete control and eventually secured a second round submission victory over Makovsky to become Bellator’s youngest champion. Only 23, Dantas is ready to defend his title at Bellator 79 on November 2.

After making quick work of Rudy “Bad News” Bears at Bellator 72, British knockout artist Paul “Semtex” Daley will return to the Bellator cage in welterweight action. Known across the MMA landscape as one of the hardest hitters in the sport, “Semtex” will be eyeing another victory as he prepares for his first Welterweight Tournament appearance in early 2013 on Spike.

With one of the largest fan bases in all of Canada, Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford is ready to collect another Bellator win as he re-enters the Bellator cage at Casino Rama. Ford made his Bellator debut at Casino Rama earlier in 2012, defeating 53-8 Luis Santos in dominating fashion. Ford had the Ontario faithful on its feet, and the Tristar Gym product will be looking for the same November 2.

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

Casino Rama hosts loaded Bellator 67 card on May 4

CHICAGO, Ill. (April 25, 2012) — Bellator Fighting Championships  heads back to Canada, as the promotion  returns to Casino Rama in Orilla, Ontario for Bellator 67. The night will feature Bellator Lightweight World Champion Michael Chandler squaring off against 32-win MMA veteran and Japanese sensation Akihiro Gono. Also, a Season 6 Welterweight Tournament Semifinal bout between Ben Saunders and Bryan Baker will take place in addition to the return of Polish Heavyweight sensation Damian “The Polish Pitbull” Grabowski and the Bellator debut of Canada’s own Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford. Kicking off the night will be a stacked undercard full of the area’s top talent. Tickets for the event are on sale and are available through Ticketmaster.com or at the Casino Rama Box Office. Tickets are priced from $25-$175.   

The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. EST on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. Doors open at 6 p.m. EST, with the first fight scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST. The preliminary card, featuring some of the area’s top local talent will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com starting at 7 p.m. EST.

Rising welterweight prospect Nordine Taleb will enter the Bellator cage for the second time. Taleb, who is on a six-fight win streak, looks to pick up where he left off with a hard fought decision win over Matt Secor at Bellator 64.

A pair of Ontario natives will clash as Will Romero and Matt Veal meet in a featherweight contest in front of an electric Ontario crowd. Romero, a two-time Bellator veteran with 10 professional fights, meets Veal, an exciting competitor that has only gone to a decision once in 16 bouts.    

Bellator 67 will feature the return of Brazilian Muay Thai champion kickboxer turned mixed martial artist Cosmo Alexander as he faces undefeated Lorwant-T Nelson in a lightweight matchup. “Good Boy” will be looking to build off the momentum of his first round knockout victory over Avery McPhatter at Bellator 58 when he steps in the Bellator cage against the 4-0 Nelson, who has stopped each of his opponents inside the allotted three rounds.  

Also, Minnesota bantamweight fighter Nick “The Big Hurt” Kirk will look to keep his perfect record intact when he meets Detroit’s David “Bo” Harris in a bantamweight tilt. Harris, a winner of three of his past four fights, will try to score the biggest victory of his career against Kirk at Casino Rama.        

The card will be rounded out as Ontario native Nathan Gunn will have the hometown support in the Bellator cage when he takes on fellow welterweight Dom O’Grady in a 170-pound affair. Both men are building impressive win streaks and will look to stay on the right path when they meet up at Bellator 67. 

You can find the full Bellator 67 Fight Card on Bellator.com: http://www.bellator.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205409198&DB_OEM_ID=23600

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 Casino Rama

Operating since July 31, 1996, Casino Rama is Ontario's only First Nations commercial casino. The Casino offers a complete entertainment experience with over 2,500 slot machines, more than 110 gaming tables, 10 unique restaurants, a world-class 5,000 seat Entertainment Centre, and a 300-room all-suite, full-service hotel, featuring spa and health club facilities.  Casino Rama is operated by Penn National Gaming, Inc.

About Bellator Fighting Championships

Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator, Latin for Warrior, is partnered with entertainment industry leaders Viacom and Fremantle Entertainment, and is the world’s leading tournament-based mixed martial arts organization. Bellator’s Founder, Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.

Bellator Returns to Casino Rama May 4th

CHICAGO, Ill. (February 22, 2012) — After two hugely-successful shows in 2011, Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that the world’s leading tournament-based promotion will be heading back to the sold-out, raucous Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada on Friday, May 4 for Bellator 67.

The night will be loaded with tournament action, as well as a bevy of preliminary fights filled with local stars sure to make the Canadian faithful proud. Tickets for this event are on sale now and are available at Ticketmaster.com and in-person at the Casino Rama Box Office. Tickets are priced from $25-$175 Canadian.

“We’re thrilled to be able to partner once again with this world leader to bring Ontario MMA fans another edge-of-your-seat action packed fight night,” said Jeff Craik, Vice President of Marketing, Casino Rama. “This is exactly the type of Big Time Excitement customers have come to expect from us.”

The event will also be broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. EST on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. Doors open at 6 p.m. EST, with the first fight scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The preliminary card, featuring the area’s top local talent will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com starting at 7 p.m. EST.

“Casino Rama has been a spectacular home for Bellator throughout 2011, so returning to this majestic jewel of a resort/casino was a very easy decision to make,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “As always our fight card will be stacked from top to bottom with many of the world’s best fighters, so I expect nothing less than a packed house once again on May 4.”

Bellator 67 will mark the third-time ever the organization has hosted an event at Casino Rama and the fourth time the promotion has visited Canada for an event.

More info on the fight card coming shortly.

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