Bellator Fighting Championships to Air New Season Live Saturday Nights on MTV2

2011 Events Kick Off On March 5 at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino

CHICAGO, Il (February 2, 2011) - Bellator Fighting Championships’ highly anticipated fourth season will premiere Saturday, March 5, at 9:00pm ET/PT and air weekly on MTV2 featuring live fights from venues around the country with many of the top mixed martial arts fighters in the world.  This season will feature a welterweight, lightweight, light heavyweight and featherweight tournament with bouts airing live every Saturday night for 12 weeks on MTV2.  The first Bellator event will originate from the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, CA on Saturday, March 5.  Tickets will be available atwww.tachipalace.com and the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino box office as the date approaches.  Check out the Bellator 35 promo video here:
 

“With our spectacular partnership with MTV2, MMA fans now have a place to watch Bellator live every Saturday night,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Our fourth season is absolutely loaded with talent, and I can’t wait to get the action started at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino when we return to California on March 5.”

Bellator showcases a unique format of world-class fighting with 12-week, eight-man tournaments featuring some of the most dynamic fighters in the world, including lightweight world champion Eddie Alvarez, middleweight champion Hector Lombard, featherweight champion Joe Warren, welterweight champion Ben Askren, bantamweight champion Zack Makovsky, heavyweight champion Cole Konrad and Women’s 115-pound champion Zoila Frausto. The Season 4 debut in Lemoore will mark Bellator's 35^th televised event in less than two years.

The first Bellator light heavyweight champion will be decided during Season 4 live on MTV2. The first fighter made official for the Bellator Season 4 light heavyweight tournament is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and member of the legendary Gracie family, Daniel Gracie.

Bellator’s third welterweight tournament is one of the most talent-filled in mixed martial arts to date.  Fighters confirmed for the upcoming 170-pound tournament include former Bellator welterweight world champion Lyman Good; MMA veteran Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron; Season 2 finalist Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle; undefeated Judo Olympian Rick Hawn; fast rising Brent Weedman, undefeated knockout artist Chris “The Assassin” Lozano; British standout “Judo” Jim Wallhead, and hard-hitting Iraq War veteran Steve Carl.  The tournament winner will challenge Olympian and Bellator world champion Ben Askren for the welterweight world championship later this year.

The featherweight tournament includes Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Eric Larkin, Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan, Daniel Straus, Wilson Reis, Kenny “Tooth Fairy” Foster, and Zac George.