Bellator Season 2 Semifinalist Carey Vanier Returns for Season 4 Lightweight Tournament

CHICAGO, Ill. (February 3, 2011) –Bellator Fighting Championships today confirmed the addition of Bellator Season 2 Semifinalist Carey Vanier to its upcoming Season 4 Lightweight Tournament, airing LIVE on MTV2 starting March 5^th. Vanier will be looking to carry the momentum from an impressive victory over dangerous UFC veteran Rich “No Love” Clementi at Bellator 28 (Watch Here: http://bit.ly/ggXrBz) into the Bellator Season 4 Lightweight Tournament for a chance at a check for $100,000 and a shot at Bellator World Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.

“Carey’s been really impressive during his time with Bellator and constantly shows drastic improvements in his game.  His victory over Rich in Season #3 was a strong showing over a great fighter.  Carey’s a significant addition to our Lightweight Tournament,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.

Fighting out of Greg Jackson’s Training Center with the likes of Donald Cerrone, Clay Guida and Melvin Guillard, Vanier (10-3, 2-1 BFC) is completely focused on winning this Lightweight Tournament and getting his shot at current Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.

“I’ve been here at Greg Jackson’s in New Mexico since October and I’m not going home until I win this tournament,” said Vanier. “My confidence is at an all-time high right now – not because of my recent win over [Rich] Clementi – but because of my training partners and what I’ve been doing for the last six months. The coach has got me doing some really incredible stuff. He’s really opened up my game and I’m starting to see  and approach things differently. I’m really excited to go out there and put all that I’ve learned to the test.”

Before he got into fighting full time, Vanier spent his days working as a manager at Best Buy, providing for his young son. While the drive to provide a better future for his family will always present for Vanier, he now finds the bulk of his motivation from an enirely different source – his desire to be considered the best.

“It’s not about money for me anymore, it’s about me having fun and fighting for a living,” said Vanier. “I love being an MMA fighter. I love being in the spotlight. I love people being able to see me doing what I love to do. I could have stuck with being a manager at Best Buy and then went on to college and still provided for my family, but I enjoy fighting, and I enjoy competition. At the core, that hunger for competition will always been the biggest motivating force that drives me.”

Vanier joins “Razor” Rob McCullough as the other confirmed participant in the Lightweight Tournament scheduled to air LIVE on MTV2.

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

About Bellator Fighting Championships

Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago.  Bellator’s founder/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.

About MTV2

MTV2 is a man’s best friend, available in nearly 80 million homes and with the highest concentration of males 12-24 and 12-34 on TV today. A vibrant mix of music, lifestyle and action sports programming, MTV2 has reflected the habits and behavior of young people since its launch in 1996. MTV2 is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.