Jul 22, 2014 | Entertainment, General News, Sports
Kongo Back In Action, King Mo Returns & Lashley Debuts
Bellator delivers a night of must-see fights for MMA fans featuring some of the most exciting fighters in the sport as Pat Curran, Patricio Pitbull, King Mo, Cheick Kongo & Bobby Lashley return to action on Friday, September 5th from Mohegan Sun Arena live on Spike TV.
Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com or by visiting the Mohegan Sun Box Office.
The night will be headlined by a Featherweight Title fight between two of the very best in the sport as reigning Bellator Champion Pat Curran defends his belt against Brazilian striker Patricio Pitbull. The fight has been nearly two years in the making after Curran successfully defeated Pitbull in 2013 with a narrow split decision victory. After Pitbull stormed through the Season 9 Featherweight Tournament, both Pitbull and Curran have engaged in verbal sparring matches via social media that has resulted in one of the most anticipated fights of 2014.
“I’ve been wanting this rematch with Curran for a long time, and it’s finally here,” Pitbull said. “I won that first fight, and I should be Bellator Featherweight Champion right now. This time, I’m not going to let it go to the judges. Curran has started to get cocky and he’s disrespecting me. He has no idea what I’ve been through to get to the title.”
“Pitbull has been running his mouth a lot lately and everyone is sick of hearing it,” Curran said. “I’m ready to shut him up for good. I’m an even better fighter now than I was the first time we fought and I’ll show you him how a true champion fights on September 5th.”
King Mo returns to the cage after his controversial loss to Rampage Jackson at Bellator 120, as the American Top Team product will square off against New Jersey native Tom DeBlass. DeBlass enters the fight 2-0 in Bellator and is looking for the biggest win of his career against King Mo on September 5th.
“Listen, I respect Mo and I think he’s a world class athlete,” DeBlass said. “That being said, I know what I’m capable of, and I not only believe that I will win the fight, but I’m going to finish him. Bellator has treated me incredible, and I’ve been asking for big fights. Mo is the next step to get to my ultimate goal, and I’m not taking it lightly. I’m fighting in a huge fight back on the East Coast for a promotion I love. It doesn’t get much better than this.”
The main card will be rounded out by the Bellator debut of fan favorite Bobby Lashley, who brings a 10-2 record into the cage while also currently holding the TNA Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. Lashley will square off against Bellator veteran Josh Burns in a heavyweight clash to open the September 5th show live on Spike TV.
The night will also feature a clash of heavyweights as Cheick Kongo returns to the Bellator cage to face the heavy handed Lavar Johnson. Both veterans of the sport, the two giants will engage in a slugfest that should produce fireworks live on Spike TV.
More announcements on the September 5th fight card from Mohegan Sun Arena will be made in the coming weeks which include Connecticut’s own, Brennan “The Irish Bad Boy” Ward.
Mohegan Sun Arena is now ranked consistently among the top venues in the world according to Billboard Magazine, Pollstar and Venues Today. It has won “Casino of The Year” at the Country Music Awards in 2008 & 2010 and in 2013, was voted “Arena Of The Year” at the G2E Global Gaming Conference in Las Vegas. Also in 2013, Mohegan Sun won “Casino of The Year” in 2 categories at the Academy of Country Music Awards. 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.
Jun 2, 2014 | General News, Special Events, Sports
Connecticut’s Brennan Ward Battles Bellator Newcomer James Irvin; Main Event To Be Announced In Coming Weeks 
Bellator will kick off its highly anticipated Season 11 on Friday, September 5th as the promotion returns to Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena to host Bellator 123 live on Spike TV. The night will feature the return of “The Irish Bad Boy” Brennan Ward as he battles James Irvin in a middleweight feature fight. The night will also feature the start of the Bellator Season 11 Middleweight Tournament. Participants for the eight man field as well as the main event of the evening will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets for Bellator 123 go on sale on Friday June 6th at 10:00am EST and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com or by visiting the Mohegan Sun Box Office. Bellator 123 will broadcast live at 9:00pm EST/ 8:00pm CST on Spike TV. The preliminary card will be streamed live and free on Spike.com beginning at 7:00pm EST/ 6:00pm CST.
Ward returns to the Bellator cage after suffering defeat at the hands of reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko in March of 2014. After storming through the Season 9 Middleweight Tournament with three straight finishes, Ward is looking to get back to his winning ways against Irvin on September 5th.
“It’s my time and he had his,” Ward proclaimed. “I’ve been putting in the work and this guy is just in my way to getting back to where I need to be. The Sandman is going to get planked in the fourth minute of the first round, I’m already calling my shot!”
“The Sandman is back,” Irvin said. “This is where the road turns for me. I’m back, and fighting under the bright lights again for a huge promotion like Bellator, and have a tough test ahead of me in a guy like Brennan Ward. I know he likes to run his mouth and he’s a young guy, but I’m knocking this kid out on my way back to the top.”
“It’s going to be another incredible night at Mohegan Sun on September 5th,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Mohegan Sun has hosted some of the most memorable moments in Bellator history and I couldn’t think of a better venue to kick off what will be a huge Season 11 for Bellator. I can’t wait to get Brennan back in the cage, our Middleweight Tournament will be stacked, and we are going to open our Season 11 in a huge way on Friday, September 5th.”
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 140 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 180 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.
Mohegan Sun Arena is now ranked consistently among the top venues in the world according to Billboard Magazine, Pollstar and Venues Today. It has won “Casino of The Year” at the Country Music Awards in 2008 & 2010 and in 2013, was voted “Arena Of The Year” at the G2E Global Gaming Conference in Las Vegas. Also in 2013, Mohegan Sun won “Casino of The Year” in 2 categories at the Academy of Country Music Awards. 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.
