Full Card Finalized For Bellator 128 Friday, October 10th, Emanating From WinStar World Casino & Resort

The Baddest Man On The Planet” Returns as Joe Warren Meets Eduardo Dantas For Bantamweight Title; Michael “Venom” Page Set To Face Nah-Shon Burrell in Co-Main Event

Newport Beach, Calif. (September 16, 2014) – Bellator MMA will return to WinStar World Casino on Friday, October 10^th for Bellator 128 live on Spike TV as Bantamweights Eduardo Dantas and Joe Warren meet to unify the 135 lbs. Bellator Bantamweight Title in the main event of the evening. The night will also feature the return of “MVP” himself Michael Page, as the welterweight battles Nah-Shon Burrell and a full preliminary card.

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 at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting the WinStar World Casino & Resort Box Office.

Kicking off the Spike.com portion of the night will be a battle of Oklahoma City natives J.C. Cottrell and Jonathan Gary.  Both looking to make their mark in their Bellator debuts, Gary has won three of his previous four fights and has recorded nine wins by KO or submission. Cottrell is coming off a first round submission victory and has posted seven of his 12 professional wins by submission.

Five-time Bellator veteran Cortez Coleman will return to the bright lights and battle William Florentino. Known for his ability to finish fights, Coleman has recorded seven wins by KO or submission, five in the first round. Florentino is ready to get back into the cage after grabbing a decision victory against Guillermo Martinez Ayme in his Bellator debut at Bellator 121 and with four of his five wins coming by submission, Florentino will look to his ground game to take down Coleman.

Oklahoma’s own Treston Thomison will face Cody Walker in a featherweight fight. Walker has recorded all three of his professional wins by submission, but after falling short in his Bellator debut at B121 Walker is looking for redemption against Thomison on October 10^th. Thomison has won four of his previous five fights all by first round KO or submission and is looking for the finish against Walker in front of his home state crowd. 

Rounding out the preliminary card will be a featherweight battle between Emmanuel Sanchez and Stephen Banaszak and former middleweight tournament semifinalist Jason Butcher will meet Andreas Michailidis under the Bellator banner.

Johnathan Martinez will look to maintain his undefeated record in a fight against Brandon Seyler in a flyweight bout and Danny Sykora will face Bellator veteran Jason Sampson in a lightweight battle.

Full fight card listed below.

Main Card:Bantamweight Title Fight: Eduardo Dantas (16-3) vs. Joe Warren (11-3)

Welterweight Feature Fight: Michael Page (6-0) vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (10-4)

Lightweight Feature Fight: Tiger Sarnavskiy (28-2) vs. John Gunderson (35-16)

Middleweight Feature Fight: Bubba McDaniel (22-8) vs. Emiliano Sordi (12-4)

Preliminary Card:Lightweight Feature Fight: J.C. Cottrell (12-2) vs. Jonathan Gary (10-4)
Welterweight Feature Fight: William Florentino (5-3) vs. Cortez Coleman (10-6)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Treston Thomison (8-2) vs. Cody Walker (3-2)
Flyweight Feature Fight: Johnathan Martinez (1-0) vs. Brandon Seyler (2-1-1)

Lightweight Feature Fight: Danny Sykora (7-4) vs. Jason Sampson (10-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Emmanuel Sanchez (8-1) vs. Stephen Banaszak (3-3)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Andreas Michailidis (5-1) vs. Jason Butcher  (7-1)

Featherweight Feature Fight: John Teixeira (16-1) vs. TBD

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA        

“The Baddest Man On The Planet” Returns as Joe Warren Meets Eduardo Dantas For Bantamweight Title At Bellator 128Friday, October 10 From WinStar World Casino

Michael “Venom” Page Set To Face Nah-Shon Burrell in Co-Main Event

Newport Beach, Calif. (September 8, 2014) – Bellator MMA will return to WinStar World Casino on Friday, October 10^th for Bellator 128 live on Spike TV as Bantamweights Eduardo Dantas and Joe Warren meet to unify the 135 lbs. Bellator Bantamweight Title in the main event of the evening. The night will also feature the return of “MVP” himself Michael Page, as the welterweight battles Nah-Shon Burrell.

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 at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting the WinStar World Casino Box Office.

Originally scheduled to fight in May of 2014, Dantas withdrew from the fight with a head injury that forced the rising bantamweight out of action for nearly six months. With the injury, former Bantamweight Champion Joe Warren was awarded the Bellator Interim Title after his defeats over Nick Kirk, Travis Marx and Rafael Silva. Finally set to unify the title, Dantas and Warren have engaged in a war of words since May and both have their sights set on becoming the undisputed Bellator Bantamweight Champion.

“This boy has been running his mouth and talking shit on social media for months,” Warren said. “He's made this fight very personal for me and my family. My plan is to beat the Portuguese out of him, put him to sleep and have him dreaming in English! He backed out of the last fight a week before. I am the Bellator World Champion. The belt is on my waist. If he wants it back he can try to come get it! October 10th The Baddest Man will break another Brazilian in the Bellator cage. I'm an unstoppable force and the Baddest Man On The Planet is on a Mission!”

“There isn’t a bigger loud mouth than Joe Warren,” Dantas said. “He can talk all he wants, I’m going to rip his head off anyway. I think about the fight 24 hours a day, I want to show the world what a lie he is, and how he is a fraud.”

Known across MMA as one of the most dynamic fighters in the sport, Michael “Venom” Page will return to the Bellator cage and look to keep his undefeated record intact when he faces Nah-Shon Burrell in a welterweight affair. Page has turned into must see TV every time he steps in cage, and is looking to take the next step forward in his career with a victory over Burrell.

“The time is now for my return to the Bellator cage,” Page said. “The one and only ‘MVP’ is back, hands down and ready to go.”

Submission ace and Russian phenom Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy will return to action to take on Bellator newcomer and MMA veteran John “Guns” Gunderson in lightweight action. Currently riding a three fight win streak, Sarnavskiy brings in a dominating 28-2 record into the Bellator cage including 23 finishes. A thirteen year veteran of the sport, Gunderson will put his talents to the test against the rising Sarnavskiy, and will be looking to collect one of the biggest victories of his long career.

The night will be rounded out with Texas native Bubba McDaniel will step back into the Bellator cage when he takes on Middleweight newcomer Emiliano Sordi. A native of Argentina, Sordi was discovered during Bellator Latin American open tryouts, and is now getting his chance to shine on Spike TV in the biggest fight of his career. 

Full fight card information will be made available in the coming weeks.

Main Card:

Bantamweight Title Fight: Eduardo Dantas (16-3) vs. Joe Warren (11-3)

Welterweight Feature Fight: Michael Page (6-0) vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (10-4)

Lightweight Feature Fight: Tiger Sarnavskiy (28-2) vs. John Gunderson (35-16)

Middleweight Feature Fight: Bubba McDaniel (22-8) vs. Emiliano Sordi (12-4)

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA        

All Bellator Tournament Winners Now In World Title Shot Pool

Newport Beach, Calif. (June 12, 2014) – With Bellator’s 2014 Summer Series having just begun last Friday, Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney announced today that the promotion has made an addition to its real sport, tournament based format that allows former Bellator Tournament winners the potential to be granted a World Title fight without going back into The Toughest Tournament in Sports.

“Just like we’ve done since day one, any fighter who wins The Toughest Tournament in Sports will still be guaranteed a World Title fight,” Rebney said. “The addition I’m making here, that I’m really excited about, is if you’ve won a tournament, you’ll join an elite group of athletes who we can grant a world title fight to at any time.” 

“For example, if you win a tournament, fight for the World Title and lose, you forever remain in that elite group of fighters who can be awarded another shot at the title. We will place some fighters back into tournaments, while others may lose a world title fight, win some non-tournament fights and be awarded another shot at the title. We won’t be implementing any hard and fast rule as to when a fighter will go back into a tournament and when he’ll fight non-tournament fights and potentially be granted another title shot.  What’s great about this addition is that it allows us to stay true to our core format, where title shots can only be earned through a tournament win, while also providing us tremendous flexibility to make the great fights fans want to see.  And, we can do all this while keeping our fighters busy and battling in meaningful fights on a re-occurring basis. This is another step in our constant evolution and most importantly it’s a win for the fighters and the fans.”

“When I heard about this change, I instantly fell in love with it,” Bellator Interim Lightweight Champion Will Brooks said. “This is a way to keep guys active after they have proven themselves in a tournament. You always want to stay in the mix as a fighter, and it’s really exciting to me that Bellator is taking the fighters and fans opinions to heart and making decisions to put on the best fights possible. It’s refreshing to see and be a part of, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

“At the end of the day, everyone wants to see guys they know stay busy and active,” Bellator Welterweight Champion Douglas Lima said. “As fighters we want to stay busy and keep fighting, and this new change helps keep the talent pool fresh and creates new challengers for us. I know the tournament isn’t going anywhere, it’s how we all came up and got our titles, but now we have a chance to keep staying busy and keep defending our titles.”

The current pool of fighters eligible to be chosen to fight for the world title includes:

Bantamweight: Eduardo Dantas*, Joe Warren*, Marcos Galvao, Rafael Silva

Featherweight: Pat Curran*, Patricio Pitbull, Daniel Straus, Shahbulat Shamhalaev, “Frodo” Khasbulaev, Daniel Weichel, Joe Warren.

Lightweight: Eddie Alvarez*, Will Brooks*, Michael Chandler, Pat Curran, Rick Hawn, Dave Jansen, David Rickels

Welterweight: Douglas Lima*, Karl Amoussou, Andrey Koreshkov, Rick Hawn

Middleweight: Alexander Shlemenko*, Brennan Ward, Doug Marshall

Light Heavyweight: Emanuel Newton*, Rampage Jackson, King Mo, Christian M’Pumbu, Atilla Vegh,

Heavyweight: Vitaly Minakov*, Alexander Volkov, Cheick Kongo

* Denotes Current Bellator Champion or Interim Champion

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/BellatorMMA          

Tournament Winners Joe Warren and Rafael Silva Battle For Interim World Title Friday, May 2nd From Revel Casino Hotel

Dantas Injury Leads to Interim World Title Fight

Newport Beach, Calif. (April 26, 2014) – Reigning Bellator Bantamweight Champion Eduardo Dantas will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a head injury in training. Originally scheduled to face Joe Warren on Friday, May 2^nd, the Brazilian phenom will be replaced by 21-3 Bellator Bantamweight Tournament winner Rafael Silva, as he battles “The Baddest Man On The Planet” Joe Warren for the Bellator Interim Bantamweight World title live on Spike.

“We take head injuries very seriously, and when we were notified that Eduardo was dealing with a head injury, we immediately flew him from Brazil to California to be examined by some of the leading specialists in the field. We are hopeful Eduardo will be able to resume his career later this year, but in the interim we have two incredible tournament winners ready to challenge for the Bellator World Title.  Two of the best on the planet in Joe Warren and Rafael Silva will fight for the title and when Dantas is able to return, he will challenge the winner for the undisputed Bellator World Title.”

“This is setback for me,” Dantas said. “I’m not feeling right at the moment, but I am a fighter and have been a fighter since my childhood and I promise that I will be back stronger than ever. I want to thank Bjorn and Bellator for taking care of me during this process, for flying me across the world to get top specialists to see me. And, when I am ready to fight, I will show everyone once again why the belt has been wrapped around my waist.”

No stranger to championships fights, Warren looks to capture his second World Title as the former Featherweight Champion looks to dominate the 21-3 Silva. Warren punched his ticket to a title shot with his Season 9 Tournament run that included two dominate finishes, and will be looking to make quick work of Silva.

“It doesn’t matter which Brazilian they throw at me, I’m going to destroy who is ever across the cage from me,” Warren said. “It sucks Dantas got injured as I was focused on destroying him and taking his belt.  But, now I’ll destroy Silva and Dantas can try to come and take my belt.”

Riding a dominant 13 fight win streak stretching over four years, Silva has his sights set on moving his record to 22-3 with the biggest victory of his career when he faces Warren. The Brazilian finisher recently suffered a setback after dealing with a knee injury that required surgery, but now healthy, Silva is looking to take the next step in his career with a World title win over Warren.

“I’m healthy, and I’m ready to fight,” Silva proclaimed. “I know Warren always likes to talk, but this fight isn’t going to be about talking, it’s going to be about who is the better fighter, and everyone is going to see who that is on May 2^nd. I’ve always wanted to face Dantas, and now Joe Warren is in my way. I’ll take care of that shortly.”

The full fight card for Bellator 118 is listed below:  

MAIN CARD:Bellator Interim Bantamweight Title Fight: Rafael Silva (21-3) vs. Joe Warren (10-3)
Bellator Welterweight Tournament Semifinals: Andrey Koreshkov (15-1) vs. Sam Oropeza (11-2)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Marcos Galvao (15-6-1) vs. Thomas Vasquez (7-0)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Opening Round: Liam McGeary (6-0) vs. Mike Mucitelli (6-0)

PRELIMINARY CARD:Welterweight Feature Fight: Gemiyale Adkins (8-6) vs. Dante Rivera (15-7)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Jesus Martinez (8-5) vs. Ryan Contaldi (7-7)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Tim Woods (6-4) vs. Eugene Fadiora (13-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Joe Pingitore (4-1-1) vs. Darrion Caldwell (4-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Jay Haas (11-13) vs. Lester Caslow (11-9)
Catchweight Feature Fight (151lbs): Julian Lane (6-3-1) vs. Anthony Morrison (18-10)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Mike Bannon (5-1) vs. Sidney Outlaw (2-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Amran Aliyev (3-2) vs. Kevin Roddy (13-15-1)

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    

Mucitelli vs. McGeary Elevated to Light Heavyweight Tournament Opening Round Fight

Additional Light Heavyweight Tournament Fights Continue During Summer Series 2014

Newport Beach, Calif. (April 23, 2014) –  Previously scheduled as a highly anticipated light heavyweight feature fight, Mike Mucitelli and Liam McGeary’s fight will now be a Bellator Summer Series Tournament Opening Round fight from Atlantic City’s Revel on Friday, May 2^nd. The event will also feature the Bellator Bantamweight World Title Fight and the Bellator Season 10 Welterweight Tournament Semifinal.

Mucitelli and McGeary both enter the cage with undefeated 6-0 professional records and are looking to make their mark in their first Bellator tournament. In a battle of fast finishers, McGeary has grabbed all of his wins by KO or submission, but will have to hold off Mucitelli, who’s recorded five first-round victories, four coming by submission.

“This is why you put in all the hours at the gym, for this type of opportunity,” McGeary said. “I’ve been away from home for a long time now, but it’s all for this chance. It’s my first tournament run, and I’m looking to get that opening round out of the way with a knockout. Mike is a tough dude, but I know what I’m capable of, and it’s going to be a really fun fight. Can’t wait.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to be part of the Bellator tournament,” Mucitelli said. “McGeary is a great opponent for me and I am going to make a big statement in this fight. I am ready to show the world what I can do and the fans at Revel should expect an all-out war.”

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 at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com and Bellator.com.

The remaining light heavyweight opening round fights will continue during the 2014 summer series. 

MAIN CARD:Bellator Bantamweight World Title Fight: Eduardo Dantas (16-3) vs. Joe Warren (10-3)
Bellator Welterweight Tournament Semifinals: Andrey Koreshkov (15-1) vs. Sam Oropeza (11-2)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Opening Round: Liam McGeary (6-0) vs. Mike Mucitelli (6-0)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Marcos Galvao (15-6-1) vs. Thomas Vasquez (7-0)

PRELIMINARY CARD:Welterweight Feature Fight: Gemiyale Adkins (8-6) vs. Dante Rivera (15-7)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Jesus Martinez (8-5) vs. Ryan Contaldi (7-7)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Tim Woods (6-4) vs. Eugene Fadiora (13-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Joe Pingitore (4-1-1) vs. Darrion Caldwell (4-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Jay Haas (11-13) vs. Lester Caslow (11-9)
Catchweight Feature Fight (151lbs): Julian Lane (6-3-1) vs. Anthony Morrison (18-10)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Mike Bannon (5-1) vs. Sidney Outlaw (2-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Amran Aliyev (3-2) vs. Kevin Roddy (13-15-1)

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          

Oropeza vs. Koreshkov Finalizes Bellator 118 From Atlantic Ctiy’s Revel on Friday, May 2ndLive On Spike

                                                    

Dantas vs. Warren Battle In Bantamweight World Title Fight; Philadelphia’s Own Sam Oropeza vs.  Andrey Koreshkov In Welterweight Semifinals, Plus Loaded Preliminary Card

Newport Beach, Calif. (April 7, 2014) – Bellator MMA returns  to Atlantic City’s Revel on Friday, May 2nd live on Spike TV as “The Baddest Man On The Planet” Joe Warren will look to reclaim a Bellator Title when he battles reigning Bellator Bantamweight Champion Eduardo Dantas. The night will also feature the New Jersey return of Sam Oropeza, as he meets Russian phenom Andrey Koreshkov in the Bellator Welterweight Tournament Semifinals.

Originally scheduled to face Koreshkov in Reno on April 4^th, Oropeza was given the news that Koreshkov was dealing with flu-like symptoms and his fight would be rescheduled. It was a true blessing in disguise for the Philadelphia native, as “Sammy O” will now face Koreshkov from Atlantic City’s Revel on May 2^nd.

“I always say things happen for a reason, and this is one of those moments where everything is coming together,” Oropeza said. “It was frustrating to hear the fight got pushed back after training so hard for this semifinal fight, but when we heard I’d be fighting back in Revel so close to friends and family, things really couldn’t have worked out better. Bellator has taken great care of me, and I can’t wait to put on a show on May 2^ndand move onto the finals of this tournament.”

 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 at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com and Bellator.com.

New Jersey native Kevin Roddy will kick off the Spike.com portion of the night against Amran Aliyev. With11 submission victories, Roddy is going to look to his ground game to get the victory, but will have to hold off Aliyev who has recorded all finish victories.

After defeating Kenny Foster in his Bellator debut at Bellator 108, Anthony Morrison returns to the cage to fight Julian Lane. Morrison enters the fight riding a two-fight win streak and has won 13 of his 14 professional victories by KO or submission.

At only 21-years-old, Sidney Outlaw steps into the Bellator cage and will face Mike Bannon in a lightweight battle. Looking to maintain his undefeated professional record, Bannon is looking for the finish and is ready to put on an exciting fight for the Revel fans.

After grabbing a submission victory in his professional debut, John Fain will put his skills to the test against Pat Bennett on May 2^nd. Both stepping under the bright lights of Bellator for the first time, Bennett is has grabbed two of his four professional victories by first round KO and plans on recording another knockout against Fain.

New Jersey native Lester Caslow returns to the Bellator cage to fight Jay Haas in a featherweight bout. Caslow has on three of his previous four victories, but will have to hold off Hass who has won 10 of his 11 victories by knockout or submission.

At 4-0 Darrion Caldwell is looking to maintain his undefeated career in a battle against Joe Pingitore. After grabbing a submission victory in less than 50 seconds against Lance Surma at Bellator 112, Caldwell is looking to finish his fight with Pingitore just as quick.

Making his Bellator debut, Tim Woods will fight Dante Rivera. Woods has won all of his victories by KO or submission, but will need to stop Rivera who enters the cage on a two-fight win streak.

No stranger to the Bellator card, Jesus Martinez will round of the preliminary card. Known for his quick finishes, Martinez has won four victories by first round finish.

MAIN CARD: 

Bellator Bantamweight World Title Fight: Eduardo Dantas (16-3) vs. Joe Warren (10-3)
Bellator Welterweight Tournament Semifinals: Andrey Koreshkov (15-1) vs. Sam Oropeza (11-2)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Marcos Galvao (15-6-1) vs. Thomas Vasquez (7-0)

Welterweight Feature Fight: Liam McGeary (6-0) vs. Mike Mucitelli (6-0)

PRELIMINARY CARD: 

Welterweight Feature Fight: Tim Woods (6-4) vs. Dante Rivera (15-7)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Jesus Martinez (8-5) vs. Ryan Contaldi (7-7)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Joe Pingitore (4-1-1) vs. Darrion Caldwell (4-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Jay Haas (11-13) vs. Lester Caslow (11-9)
Catchweight Feature Fight (151lbs): Julian Lane (6-3-1) vs. Anthony Morrison (18-10)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Pat Bennett (4-3) vs. John Fain (1-0)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Mike Bannon (5-1) vs. Sidney Outlaw (2-0)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Amran Aliyev (3-2) vs. Kevin Roddy (13-15-1)

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/BellatorMMA