Bellator MMA to take place on Saturday, September 7th
After suffering a broken hand in training, Season 8 Middleweight Tournament Winner Doug Marshall will have to put his title shot on hold. Using the Bellator Tournament Championship Replacement Clause for the first time, Bellator fighters and executives voted to determine their choice of which fighter would earn their title shot.
After consideration, reigning Bellator Middleweight World Champion Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko will now face Season 8 Tournament Finalist Brett Cooper at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, September 7th. The night will also feature the opening rounds of Bellator’s Fall Season Middleweight Tournament, the live “Fight Master” Tournament Final, and the return of “The Baddest Man on The Planet” Joe Warren.
The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 8:00pm EST on Spike. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 6:00 p.m. EST. Tickets for the event are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting the Mohegan Sun Box Office, with tickets starting at just $30.00 dollars.
Displaying a strong performance in last season’s tournament, Cooper is eager to get in the cage with Shlemenko and not only capture his first Bellator World Title, but also wipe his 2011 loss to Shlemenko off his record.
“My goal has always been the same, get the belt,” Cooper said. “I’m always making improvements and this is an incredible opportunity I’m not going to pass up. When we fought in 2011, it was an absolute war, and I’ve grown into a much different fighter over the last few years. I’m 26 years old, and this is my time to take the next step.”
The full fight card for Bellator 98 from Mohegan Sun has been finalized and the highly talented middleweight division includes Bellator veterans Brian Rogers and Andreas Spang, submission ace Giva Santana and Denmark’s Mikkel Parlo.
The full fight card is listed below:
MAIN CARD
Bellator Middleweight World Title Fight: Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko (47-7) vs. Brett Cooper (19-8)
Bellator Bantamweight Feature Fight: Joe Warren (8-3) vs. Nick Kirk (10-2)
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Opening Round: Justin Torrey (7-0) vs. Andreas Spang (8-3)
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Opening Round: Perry Filkins (7-1) vs. Jeremy Kimball (10-3)
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Opening Round: Brian Rogers (10-5) vs. Mikkel Parlo (9-1)
Bellator Middleweight Tournament Opening Round: Jason Butcher (6-0) vs. Giva Santana (18-2)
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Lightweight Feature Fight: Derek Anderson (8-0) vs. Patricky Pitbull (10-4)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Jeff Nader (5-5) vs. Mike Mucitelli (5-0)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Dave Vitkay (12-12) vs. Brennan Ward (5-1)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Andrew Calandrelli (6-3) vs. Ryan Quinn (7-4-1)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Nick Piedmont (8-3-1) vs. Matt Bessette (11-4)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Glenn Allair (3-1) vs. Riso Disciullo (debut)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Josh Diekman (12-5) vs. Parker Porter (5-3)
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
About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 115 countries, Bellator’s majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. With over 150 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport’s top mixed martial artists. Bellator’s founder & CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator’s core philosophy is that title shots should be earned, not given. This belief gave rise to Bellator’s real sport, tournament-based format, which gives Bellator’s tournaments a true playoff feel that keeps the sport true and distances itself from the subjective side of fighting sports found in organizations that utilize a matchmaking/casting formula. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Newport Beach, California.
About Spike TV:
Spike TV is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
About mun2
mun2 is the leading Hispanic cable network for young millennial adults 18-34. From reality to music, on-air to digital, mun2 creates original content that resonates across a multi-screen platform. Young, vibrant and unabashedly Latino, mun2 has a distribution to over 38 million households. The network is part of Telemundo Media, a division of NBCUniversal.
Tickets are $70.00, $50.00 and $30.00 and are on sale through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster customers may log on to ticketmaster.com; call Ticketmaster’s national toll free Charge By Phone number 1.800.745.3000; or visit any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets are also available at the Mohegan Sun Box Office. More information is available at entertainment.
About Mohegan Sun
Mohegan Sun Arena is ranked 3rd in the U.S. and 5th in the world by Billboard Magazine and was the 2008 and 2010 recipient of a Country Music Award for “Casino of The Year.” Venues Today also ranked Mohegan Sun Arena #4 in 2011 and ranked in the top six of “Top Stops of The Decade” in 2012. For more information on concerts and other great events at Mohegan Sun, visit mohegansun.com. For information on this week’s schedule, call the Entertainment and Special Events hotline at 1.888.226.7711, ext. 27163.