Bellator 70 will close out the promotion’s sixth season, will feature a heavyweight title bout between champion Cole Konrad and Eric Prindle, and will also include the finals of the season six middleweight tournament with the winner of Brian Rogers vs. Bruno Santos and Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Maiquel Falcao squaring off for $100,000 and a shot at the Bellator middleweight title.
Bellator 70 will take place on Friday, May 25, at the New Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, La., and will broadcast LIVE starting at 7 p.m. CST on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com starting at 6 p.m. CST.
Originally set to take on Cole Konrad this Friday at Bellator 65, an Eric Prindle hand injury prompted the schedule change. Having won the Bellator heavyweight championship in 2010 after a clean sweep of the season three tournament, Konrad commented on finally getting to make his first title defense:
“I’m really excited to get back into the cage. This fight has been a long time coming. Eric is a really good standup fighter, and I have a lot of respect for him. I know what he can do standing up, so I’m not going to deviate from anything that has made me successful in the past.”
Prindle has faced numerous setbacks of his own on his road to the title. It all started in November when Prindle suffered a low blow from Thiago Santos in the season five tournament finals that left him incapacitated and unable to continue. The bout was ruled a no-contest and a rematch was set for Bellator 61 in March.
Due to Prindle reportedly suffering from flu-like symptoms the day of weigh-ins, the bout was postponed a week. Then on March 23 at Bellator 62 Santos failed to make weight and Prindle was named the season five heavyweight tournament winner by default.
Prindle commented on his tumultuous journey:
“I’m just ready to get into the cage and end this. I want to become a champion, and this is my time to do that.”
Also on tap for Bellator 70 in New Orleans is the Bellator return of Louisiana native Rich “No Love” Clementi. A former UFC fighter and longtime mixed martial arts veteran, Clementi made his Bellator debut back in September 2010 at Bellator 28, dropping a split decision to Team Jackson’s Carey Vanier.
An opponent for Clementi will be announced shortly and New Orleans MMA fans can expect a host of local talent to fill out the preliminary card which will stream live on Spike.com.
Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney shared his thoughts on returning to New Orleans:
“The state of Louisiana has been a tremendous host, so bringing Bellator back to New Orleans to close out what has already been an incredible season was an easy decision. We’re excited to be working with the New Orleans Convention Center and to be hosting a great night of fights for these passionate and loyal Bellator fans.”
Refer to ProMMAnow.com’s Upcoming MMA Events page for full fight cards and event schedules as they become available.