As we announced previously BELLATOR II is set for Friday, April 10th, in Connecticut. PRO MMA (promma.info) learned today from Bellator officials that their third event, next week, will take place at the University of Oklahoma at Norman on April 17th. The event will be held at the home of the Oklahoma Sooners, the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Bellator Fighting Championship 2009 tournament season takes place on each Friday for twelve consecutive weeks. The April 17th show will be their third fight card and will air on ESPN Deportes on Saturday, April 18th.
BELLATOR III will feature four Middleweight (185 lbs.) first round tournament bouts. Among those competing in the tournament will be, Oklahoma wrestling champion Jared Hess, who will be fighting, according to a Bellator press release, “Spain’s greatest middleweight MMA fighter,” Daniel Tabera.
Also fighting among the first round middleweight tournament contestants is Alex “El Toro” Andrade, out of Dallas, Texas, and Pride veteran Hector Lombard, who is one of the most active and successful fighters in the world.
In the lone welterweight tournament bout on the card, former UFC Middleweight Champion, Dave Menne will fight American Top Team’s undefeated Norman Paraisy.
Bellator Fighting Championships’ CEO, Bjorn Rebney, had this to say about bringing his MMA promotion to the Midwest, “Fans in the Midwest are some of the fiercest MMA fans in the country and we are thrilled to be bringing a collection of electrifying single elimination, Quarter-Final and Semi-Final world championship tournament fights to Oklahoma and Ohio.”
In addition to five tournament fights, BELLATOR III will also host several non-tournament bouts including among others, a heavyweight match-up between UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez and former WEC fighter Jay White.
As a special treat, Kerry Vera, wife of UFC star Brandon Vera, will be making her professional MMA debut at BELLATOR III against Brandi Hainey.
Bellator III
Tournament Bouts:
MW – Hector Lombard vs. Virgil Lozano
MW – Alex Andrade vs. James Damien Stelly
MW – Daniel Tabera vs. Jared Hess
MW – Yosmany Cabezas vs. Edwin Aguilar
WW – Dave Menne vs. Norman Paraisy
Non-Tournament Bouts:
LW – Mike Messina vs. William Albrecht
HW – Amedio Viola vs. Tyler East
HW – Jay White vs. Eddie Sanchez
LH – Rudy Lindsay vs. Wayne Cole
Female – Brandi Hainey vs. Kerry Vera
Now fast-forward to May 1, 2009 at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio for BELLATOR IV and the first round of the semi-finals which will include a lightweight match up between Jorge Masvidal and Toby Imada, as well as Eddie Alvarez versus the winner of Eric Reynaolds and Thomas Schulte.
Non-tournament bouts will feature two heavyweight fights with Nashville MMA’s Dave “Pee Wee” Herman vs. Josh Barnes, and Sherman Pendergarst vs. Joey Beltran. In the final non-tournament fight Troy Gerhart will fight Lorenzo Borgomeo at lightweight.
Tickets for Bellator Fighting Championships’ event at Hara Arena are available for $19, $49 and $99 now at Ticketmaster.com.
By: Jack Bratcher
About Bellator Fighting Championships:
Bellator Fighting Championships’ premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events to be broadcast weekly in prime time on Saturday nights on ESPN Deportes. The English-language broadcast becomes available on www.Bellator.com each Wednesday. The nationally televised events feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There are four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season one over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions.
For more information about Bellator Fighting Championships, visit www.Bellator.com. The Spanish version of the website is available at www.Espanol.Bellator.com. Please contact your local cable provider to learn more about viewing Bellator Fighting Championships on ESPN Deportes.