Weigh-In Results from Pechanga Resort and Casino

Temecula, Calif. (July 24, 2014) – The Bellator MMA weigh-ins have been completed from Cabaret Theater inside Pechanga Resort & Casino in preparation for Bellator MMA’s July 25^thevent, which will showcase the Bellator Middleweight and Welterweight Tournament Finals.

Bellator MMA will take place from Pechanga Resort & Casino on Friday, July 25th with the first fight taking place at 4 p.m. PST and streaming LIVE on Spike.com. The televised portion of the night will begin at 6 p.m. PST and will air LIVE on Spike TV.

MAIN CARD:Bellator Welterweight Tournament Final: Adam McDonough (170.5) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (170.8)
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Final: Brandon Halsey (185) vs. Brett Cooper (186)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal: Egidijus Valavicius (204) vs. Liam McGeary (203)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Phil Baroni (170) vs. Karo Parisyan (169)

PRELIMINARY CARD:Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal: Kelly Anundson (205.5) vs. Philipe Lins (206)
Heavyweight Feature Fight:  Dmitriy Sosnovskiy (240) vs. Manny Lara (251.5)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Poppies Martinez (145) vs. Bubba Jenkins (146)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Augusto Sakai (255.5) vs. Matt Frembling (236)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Linton Vassell (205) vs. Virgil Zwicker (206)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Fernando Gonzalez (170.6) vs. Karl Amoussou (170)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Joe Duarte (155) vs. Saad Awad (156)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Stephen Martinez (155.6) vs. Sergio Rios (154.9)

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

Parisyan vs. Baroni Feature Fight Added To Stacked Bellator 122 Main Card From California’s Pechanga Resort & Casino Friday, July 25th

Middleweight and Welterweight Tournament Finals Headline Bellator 122

Newport Beach, Calif. (June 17, 2014) – It’s a night of Bellator Tournament actionas Bellator MMA returns to Southern California’s Pechanga Resort & Casino to host the Bellator Season 10 Middleweight Tournament Final as Brett Cooper faces Brandon Halsey, while Russian striker Andrey Koreshkov battles rising star Adam McDonough in a Bellator Welterweight Tournament Finals showdown.  As always, both tournaments hold high stakes as the winners will move on to collect a guaranteed world title fight. “The New York Bad Ass” will also make his promotional debut as Phil Baroni will take on Karo Parisyan in a welterweight affair live on Spike TV.

“From top to bottom, we’re bringing a loaded card to our second home at the beautiful Pechanga Resort & Casino July 25^th,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “We’ve got two spectacular tournament final fights that headline the show, two amazing semi-finals in our Light Heavy Weight tournament and a battle between two great names in MMA, with the Bellator debut of “The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni facing the resurgent and focused Karo “The Heat” Parisyan.  And, on top of that we’ve got a loaded prelim card that features a crazy amount of talent. The Southern California market has been fantastic to us, it’s our home, and we are delivering a great card top to bottom.”

Bellator 122 will be broadcast live from Pechanga Resort & Casino beginning at 6 p.m. PST on Spike TV.  The preliminary card will be streamed live and free exclusively on Spike.com starting at 4 p.m. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting Pechanga.com, Bellator.com, or by calling the Pechanga Box Office at 877-711-2946 or visiting between noon and 8 p.m. daily.

Combining for over 65 professional fights, Phil “The New York Bad Ass” Baroni will make his Bellator debut as he faces Karo “The Heat” Parisyan in a welterweight bout.  In a battle of fan favorites, Baroni has recorded 10 victories by knockout and is looking to put on an explosive performance and make his mark under the Bellator banner against the always exciting Parisyan, who won three of his previous four fights.

“I’m so pumped to be back with Bellator, they have treated me great here and I’m proud to be back in the cage,” Parisyan said. “This is going to be a fun one. I’ve known Phil for a long time, we have a strong friendship, but this is business, and an absolutely huge fight for both of us. Everyone knows the only chance Phil has is to try and knock me out, but I know I bring more to the table. It’s going to be your standard standup guy vs. a judo guy, but you never know what can happen. I’m not under estimating Phil, and we both know how important of a fight is for both of us. Our futures are on the line here, and I’m taking this incredibly seriously.”

After defeating Mike Mucitelli by knockout in the light heavyweight opening round at Bellator 118, Liam McGeary returns to face Egidijus Valavicius. Valavicius claimed victory against Carlos Eduardo in the opening rounds, but will have his work cut out for him against McGeary who maintains a perfect 7-0 professional record. McGeary has won all four of his Bellator victories by first round finish, accumulating for less than four minutes of time spent in the cage.

With a dominate first round submission victory in the opening round, Philipe Lins will battle Kelly Anundson in the semifinals to complete the other half of the light heavyweight tournament bracket. Lins has a 9-0 professional record with seven wins coming by KO or submission and is looking for the finish against Anundson on July 25^th. 

No stranger to the Bellator cage, Karl Amoussou will face Fernando Gonzalez in a welterweight bout. In a battle of finishers, Amoussou has recorded 12 of his 17 wins by KO or submission and will look to his previous Bellator experiences to hold off Gonzales, who recorded 14 finishes, 12 coming in the first round. 

Former lightweight tournament finalist Saad Awad returns to the Bellator cage to fight fellow California native, Joe Duarte in a rematch of their 2011 battle that saw Durate collect a huge second round armbar victory. After falling to Duarte, Awad has improved to 15-6 with 13 finish wins and is looking for redemption on July 25^th.  With the vast improvements he’s made in his game and his experiences in the cage since their last meeting, Awad is confident his fight with Duarte will lend a different result this time around.

Entering the fight with back-to-back first round submission victories, Poppies Martinez will fight one of MMA’s top prospects in Bubba Jenkins on July 25^th. With a 6-1 professional record, Jenkins has won five professional fights by KO or submission and will put his skills to the test against Martinez who has fought in 35 fights and recorded 18 submission wins throughout his career.

At 8-0, Russia’s own Dmitriy Sosnovskiy will make his Bellator debut against California native Manny Lara in a heavyweight battle.  A four-time Bellator veteran, Lara is ready to fight in front of his home state fans, but will need to stop the solid punching power of Sosnovskiy, who has recorded four first round KO victories.

Coming off of a 56 second victory in his Bellator debut, Stephen Martinez will fight submission ace Sergio Rios. With an undefeated 7-0 professional record, Rios has recorded five first round submission wins and plans on using his strong submission skills against Martinez, who is riding a six-fight win streak.

After recording a first round knockout in his Bellator debut, Temecula’s own Virgil Zwicker will fight Linton Vassell. Zwicker has recorded nine knockout wins, but will face his toughest opponent yet in Vassell, who has won eight-consecutive fights and has won 11 of his 13 victories by KO or submission.

Rounding out the Spike.com card will be a heavyweight battle between undefeated Augusto Sakai and southern California’s Matt Frembling. Frembling has won his previous six fights and will rely on his strong striking to come away with a victory in his Bellator debut.

The full fight card can be found below.

MAIN CARD

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Final: Adam McDonough (11-0) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (16-1)
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Final: Brandon Halsey (6-0) vs. Brett Cooper (20-9)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Phil Baroni (15-17) vs. Karo Parisyan (23-10)

Bellator Light Heavyweight Semifinal: Liam McGeary (7-0) vs. Egidijus Valavicius (27-10)

PRELIMINARY CARD:Bellator Light Heavyweight Semifinal: Kelly Anundson (8-2) vs. Philipe Lins (9-0)

Featherweight Feature Fight: Poppies Martinez (26-9) vs. Bubba Jenkins (6-1)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Fernando Gonzalez (20-12) vs. Karl Amoussou (17-6-2)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Joe Duarte (10-3) vs. Saad Awad (15-6)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Dmitriy Sosnovskiy (8-0) vs. Manny Lara (4-4)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Stephen Martinez (10-2) vs. Sergio Rios (6-0)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Linton Vassell (13-3) vs. Virgil Zwicker (12-3)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Augusto Sakai (6-0) vs. Matt Frembling (9-2)

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/BellatorMMA          

Bellator 121 From WinStar World Casino Friday, June 6th, Features “Colossus” and Sokoudjou Debuts, Plus Stacked Light Heavy Tournament

Newport Beach, Calif. (May 22, 2014) – The Bellator Summer Series kicks off with Bellator’s return to WinStar World Casino on Friday, June 6^th live on Spike TV.  The event features the last three fights in the opening round of the light heavyweight tournament, the debut of James “Colossus” Thompson and Sokoudjou, as well as a full card of local talent. 

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.

“Friday June 6^th live on Spike is going to be a blast,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Colossus comes in angry and hungry to prove himself to fans and media on the big stage. I watched him battle in Pride years ago and to have him here now is great, while Sokoudjou finds himself in a similar situation. They both have great names and great heritage in our game and fans love to watch these two scrap. It was a shame to lose a fight like Curran vs. Pitbull, but with these two, our Light Heavyweight Tournament and a great prelim card, this is going to be a great night of fights.”

Combining for 46 professional fights, James “The Colossus” Thompson will make his Bellator debut as he takes “The American Soldier” Eric Prindle in a heavyweight feature fight. Thompson enters the fight riding a winning streak that includes victories over Bob Sapp, Bobby Lashley and Colin Robinson and is looking to take the first step in making his case for a spot in the next Bellator Heavyweight Tournament. 

Having made his name in Pride, Thompson believes he can make a run at a title and a victory over Prindle is the first step in that journey. Having been the main event on one of the most watched MMA events in history, “The Colossus” is ready to once again fight on the big stage.

“I’m back!” Thompson exclaimed. “I’ve been training harder than ever to get back to the big show, and I’m finally here. I’m going to smash Prindle on June 6^th, make my way into a tournament, and get that belt. No questions asked. Bellator needs some new blood, and trust me, there will be blood.”

Prindle has recorded five wins by KO, but will need to hold of Thompson who enters the cage on a five -fight win streak and is looking to make his mark under the Bellator banner.

With his sights set on making an impact in the light heavyweight division, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou steps into the Bellator cage for the first time against Terry Davinney.  In a fight of fast finishers, Davinney has won four of his last five victories and will put his skills to the test against Sokoudjou who has nine victories by KO, eight in the first round.

“I’m very excited to be joining the Bellator family,” Sokoudjou said. “They have some of the best fighters in the world fighting in their cage and it’s something I want to be a part of. Bellator always has exciting fights for the fans, and it’s something I’m going to continue for Bellator in every one of my fights.”

At 8-0 Phillipe Lins will battle submission ace Austen Heidlage in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Opening Round. Looking to maintain his perfect record, Lins will need to get past Heidlage who has won all six of his victories by submission, four via choke.

Coming off of a 48 second KO victory, Egidijus Valavicius will face Carlos Eduardo in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Opening Round. With 36 professional fights under his belt, Valavicius plans on using his veteran experience against Eduardo, who has only three professional losses.

After defeating Volkan Oezdemir by submission in his Bellator debut in April, Kelly Anundson will face Rodney Wallace in the light heavyweight opening round. Anundson is riding a four-fight win streak, with three first round wins and is looking for the finish against Wallace.

Competing under the bright lights of Bellator for the first time, Bubba McDaniels will battle Matt Jones. A Texas native, McDaniels has won seven of his previous nine fights, with 20 of his 21 victories by way of knockout or submission and plans on putting on an exciting fight for the WinStar fans.

Opening the Spike.com portion of the night will be a fight between Oklahoma’s own Cortez Coleman and Joe Vedepo. A former middleweight tournament contender, Vedepo has recorded 13 wins by KO or submission and is looking for the quick finish against Coleman.

After winning by first round submission in his Bellator debut in March, Stephen Banaszak will face Treston Thomison for the second time.  Thomison holds a 7-2 professional record and is looking for redemption against Banaszak in front of his home state crowd.

Known for his heavy hands, Steve Garcia returns to the Bellator cage to face Cody Walker. With all three of his victories coming by knockout, Garcia will rely on his strong striking against Walker and is looking for another KO on June 6^th.

Both making their Bellator debut, submission ace Ray Sloan will battle Jamelle Jones. Looking to maintain his undefeated professional record, Sloan has won five fights by submission and plans on using his ground game to take down Jones.

Guillermo Martinez Ayme and William Florentino will round out the Spike.com card in a welterweight bout. With an undefeated record, Ayme has won five of his six wins by knockout and plans on ending this fight with Florentino the same way.

The full fight card is listed below.

MAIN CARD:Heavyweight Feature Fight: James Thompson (19-14) vs. Eric Prindle (8-5)

Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (14-12) vs. Terry Davinney (10-6)

Bellator Light Heavyweight Opening Round: Austen Heidlage (6-1) vs. Philipe Lins (8-0)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Opening Round: Egidijus Valavicius (26-10) vs. Carlos Eduardo (11-3)

PRELIMINARY CARD:Featherweight Feature Fight: Stephen Banaszak (3-1) vs. Treston Thomison (7-2)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Rodney Wallace (20-8) vs. Cortez Coleman (10-5)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Opening Round: Rodney Wallace (20-8) vs. Kelly Anundson (7-2)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Jamelle Jones (2-1) vs. Ray Sloan (6-0)
Catchweight Feature Fight (190lbs): Bubba McDaniels (21-8) vs. Matt Jones (4-7)
Catchweight Feature Fight (140lbs): Steve Garcia (3-0) vs. Cody Walker (3-1)
Welterweight Feature Fight: William Florentino (4-3) vs. Guillermo Martinez Ayme (6-0)

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