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Alvarez vs. Chandler III Headlines Bellator’s First PPV Saturday, May 17th


MMA’s greatest trilogy will occur on Saturday, May 17th as Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez will defend his title against Michael Chandler in the most highly anticipated fight of 2014, live on Pay-Per-View. Location and ticket information will be made available shortly.

The main event is the third installment in this epic MMA trilogy that has featured a spectacular submission victory for Chandler at Bellator 58 and a dramatic 5-round split decision victory for Alvarez at Bellator 106 this past November. Both of their previous fights were considered for “Fight of The Year” by the MMA media and fans.

“These two warriors have produced the two best fights I have ever seen, and on May 17th, two of the greatest lightweights on the planet will close out the best trilogy in MMA,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said.

“I’m excited to be headlining the first Bellator Pay-Per-View, and just excited to get back in there,” Chandler said. “I’m going to bring the fight like always, and I’m not going to leave any doubt that I’m one of the best lightweights in the world. Whenever you suffer your first loss, you want that chance to avenge that defeat, and I have that opportunity on May 17th.”

“Like every fight, you are only as good as your last performance,” Alvarez said. “I always go out and try to put out the best performance possible, and that’s what I’m going to do May 17th. Mike and I have a long history together, and everyone knows what type of battles we’ve had, but I’m training in a manner that should end the fight quickly. I want a fast, quick fight that is going to keep me as Bellator Champion.”

“Rampage” Comes Home To Memphis On Saturday, May 17th From The Landers Center - Light Heavyweight Finals Serve As Co-Main Event As Rampage Jackson Takes on King Mo


MMA’s greatest trilogy is set for Saturday, May 17th as Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez will defend his title against Michael Chandler in the most highly anticipated fight of 2014, live on Pay-Per-View. The night also features the Memphis return of MMA superstar Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who will square off against King Mo Lawal in one of MMA’s most heated rivalries. The event will take place from The Landers Center, located just outside Memphis on Saturday, May 17th. Tickets for the event will go on sale on Friday, March 14th at 10am CST on Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com and The Landers Center Box Office.

The main event is the third installment in this epic MMA trilogy that has featured a spectacular submission victory for Chandler at Bellator 58 and a dramatic 5-round split decision victory for Alvarez at Bellator 106 this past November. Both of their previous fights were considered for “Fight of The Year” by the MMA media and fans.

A native of South Memphis, Rampage returns to The River City for the first time in fifteen years to battle King Mo in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Finals. Since joining Bellator in 2013, Rampage has delivered two highlight reel knockouts, and will face his toughest test in Bellator to date when he battles King Mo from The Landers Center on Saturday, May 17th live on Pay-Per-View.

“I’ve been wanting to come back to Memphis for the last decade, and I’m finally getting that chance to fight in one of the biggest fights of my career for Bellator,” Jackson said. “After being part of the Bellator family for a while now, I feel like the old Rampage, and that’s not a good thing for Mo. I’m back, I’m a monster, and I’m looking to put on another entertaining fight for all my fans on May 17th.”

“When it comes down to it, this is a fight I’ve wanted for a long time, and I’m going to be able to beat his ass in his hometown, and everyone is going to respect me,” Lawal said. “Rampage is just a stepping stone in my way to get that title shot again and get that belt. It’s all I want, and after I beat Rampage, I’m going for that belt, simple as that.”

“We now have two fights on this card that are absolute fireworks,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “Like I said before, we have Alvarez and Chandler headlining a card that will end the best trilogy ever in MMA, and now we’ve added two more superstars to the mix with Rampage and King Mo. May 17th is going to be an absolutely huge night for Bellator, live on Pay-Per-View.”

Brooks vs. Jolly Added to May 17 Bellator MMA PPV


Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler won’t be the only lightweights featured on Bellator’s inaugural pay-per-view as Bellator Lightweight Tournament winner Will Brooks will be back in action and face Nate Jolly on Saturday, May 17th from The Landers Center, located just outside Memphis. The fight joins a card headlined by Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler, who will complete MMA’s greatest trilogy, while Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will battle King Mo in a light heavyweight tournament final.

As the Bellator Season 9 Lightweight Tournament winner, Brooks is in line for his world title shot, and will fight for the title later in 2014. But before the Chicago native fights for gold, the 13-1 Brooks will battle Ohio native Nate Jolly live on pay-per-view. Brooks earned his title shot with a dominate tournament run, including victories over John Alessio, Saad Awad and Alexander Sarnavskiy, who combined hold a profession record of 75-25. Only 27, Brooks is aware he is just entering his prime and is ready for a huge 2014.

“I’m so happy to be getting back in that cage,” Brooks said. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t have my sights set on Alvarez vs. Chandler III, just like everyone else, but at the same time I know how focused I am for this next fight. I’m really looking at this fight as more of a blessing than anything else. What some people don’t understand is when you get into that tournament, you are doing everything you can to get through it healthy and keep racking up those wins. My coaches and I came in with a game plan for the tournament, and while it obviously paid off, I know there are so many adjustments I still want to make to my game, and I want to show my fans the sort of skills I have. With a full training camp under my belt, I know I’m going to take my game to the next level and really show fans how my game has evolved.”

“I’m coming into this fight with really nothing to lose,” Jolly said. “I’m pumped to be able to fight for Bellator on such a big stage and against a guy that I feel I match up very well against. I always want to fight the best, and I know Will is very well rounded, and I will need to be on top of my game, which will raise my skills as well. It’s going to be a great scrap, and I can’t wait to get it going on May 17th.”

I see Alvarez winning this. Again.

Gonna be a great fight, regardless!

Michael Page vs. Ricky Rainey Set for Bellator MMA PPV


Bellator's inaugural pay-per-view will start off with a bang Saturday, May 17th as Michael "Venom" Page makes his US Television debut in the Bellator cage versus Rickey "The Sniper" Rainey in a welterweight feature fight. The two explosive strikers will be the first fight featured on the pay-per-view, followed by Will Brooks vs. Nate Jolly, Alexander Shlemenko vs. Tito Ortiz, Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo, and Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler, all from The Landers Center, located just outside of Memphis.

Widely known in the UK as one of the most exciting young fighters in the sport, former kickboxing champion Michael Page brings his skills stateside looking to remain undefeated and collect the biggest win of his young career.

Rainey opened eyes with Bellator fans with his dominating April KO over Andy Murad that earned the North Carolina native a well-deserved first round victory. Always looking to push the pace during fights, Rainey looks to engage Page from the opening bell, and to create fireworks to kick off the pay-per-view portion of the fight card.

"After seeing the performance that Ricky put on at Bellator 116, the decision was a no brainer to get him back into our cage as quickly as possible," Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "Michael Page is one of the most explosive fighters this sport has, and to be able to put both these guys in the cage together is magic. I couldn't think of a better fight to put on to kick off our pay-per-view than these two explosive, tall, long Welters that throw bombs."


Bellator 120 PPV Fight Card:


MAIN CARD (PPV):

Champ Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler – for lightweight title
Quinton Jackson vs. Muhammed Lawal – light-heavyweight tournament final
Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko – non-title fight
Will Brooks vs. Nate Jolly
Michael Page vs. Ricky Rainy


PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV):

Cheick Kongo vs. Eric Smith
Blagoi Ivanov vs. Alexander Volkov – heavyweight tournament final
Marcin Held vs. Patricky Freire – lightweight tournament final
Mike Richman vs. Goiti Yamauchi

Pitbull Injured; Shamhalaev vs. Guerreiro Added to Bellator PPV


A hand injury in training has sidelined Brazilian finisher Patricky Pitbull and will force the explosive lightweight to postpone his scheduled fight with Polish phenom Marcin Held on May 17th. With the injury, Shahbulat Shamhalaev vs. Fabricio Guerreiro will now square off on the Spike TV portion of the May 17th Pay Per View card.

"It's unfortunate to lose a fight like Patricky vs. Held on May 17th, but we were able to reschedule the Shahbulat-Fabricio fight which will be a great fight," said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Patricky will take some time to heal and then we'll look to re-schedule his Tournament Championship fight with Marcin, who is one of the top young rising stars in our sport."

With the change, the full fight card for May 17th can be found below:

Bellator Pay-Per-View Fight Card:

Bellator Lightweight World Title Fight: Eddie Alvarez (25-3) vs. Michael Chandler (12-1)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Final: Rampage Jackson (34-11) vs. King Mo (12-3)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Fight: Alexander Shlemenko (50-7) vs. Tito Ortiz (16-11-1)
Bellator Lightweight Fight: Will Brooks (13-1) vs. Nate Jolly (13-5)
Bellator Welterweight Fight: Rickey Rainey (7-2) vs. Michael Page (5-0)

Bellator Spike TV Fight Card:

Bellator Heavyweight Tournament Final: Blagoi Ivanov (11-0) vs. Alexander Volkov (20-4)
Bellator Heavyweight Fight: Cheick Kongo (20-9) vs. Eric Smith (6-1-1)
Bellator Featherweight Fight: Shahbulat Shamhalaev (12-2) vs. Fabricio Guerreiro (19-3)
Bellator Featherweight Fight: Goiti Yamauchi (16-2) vs. Mike Richman (16-4)

Bellator Spike.com Fight Card:

Bellator Featherweight Fight: Zach Underwood (12-5) vs. Austin Lyons (10-3)
Bellator Heavyweight Fight: Justin Frazier (6-1) vs. Mike Wessel (13-7)
Bellator Welterweight Fight: Ben Brewer (6-1) vs. Andy Uhrich (8-4)
Bellator Welterweight Fight: Anthony Lemon (2-3) vs. Codie Shuffield (4-0)
Bellator Bantamweight Fight: Cortez Phelia (2-0) vs. Brain Hall (7-2)

Next week’s Bellator 120 event, which marks the organization’s debut on pay-per-view, has reportedly taken a big hit.

Reigning lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez (25-3 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) has reportedly suffered an injury and been forced out of his planned headliner and trilogy fight with ex-champ Michael Chandler (12-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA). Sherdog first reported the scratch, and MMAFighting.com subsequently confirmed Alvarez suffered a concussion during training.

According to www.Sherdog.com, Bellator 9 lightweight tournament winner Will Brooks (13-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) will step in as a replacement.

Despite the loss of one of its planned headliners, next week’s Bellator 120 event will remain a pay-per-view offering.

Following today’s earlier news that Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (25-3 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) suffered a head injury during a training session two weeks ago and had been forced out of the May 17 event, the organization today announced his opponent, former champ Michael Chandler (12-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA), instead will meet Will Brooks (13-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA).

According to Bellator CEO and Chairman Bjorn Rebney, Chandler and Brooks will fight for an interim lightweight title. The bout has been moved from the main event to the co-headliner slot.

Bellator first attempted to make its PPV debut back in November with Bellator 106, but when scheduled headliner Tito Ortiz was forced out of a fight with fellow ex-UFC champion Quinton Jackson, the event shifted to Spike TV.

However, that won’t be the case this time.

As originally planned, the event’s main card will air on PPV (with a price tag ranging from $30 to $45, depending on your local provider) following prelims on Spike TV and Spike.com. The event takes place at Landers Center in Southaven, Miss.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

Quinton Jackson vs. Muhammed Lawal – light heavyweight tournament final
Will Brooks vs. Michael Chandler – for interim lightweight title
Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko – non-title fight
Michael Page vs. Ricky Rainey
Blagoi Ivanov vs. Alexander Volkov – heavyweight tournament final

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV, 8 p.m. ET)

Cheick Kongo vs. Eric Smith
Fabricio Guerreiro vs. Shahbulat Shamhalaev
Mike Richman vs. Goiti Yamauchi

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com, 6 p.m. ET)

Austin Lyons vs. Zach Underwood
Justin Frazier vs. Mike Wessel
Ben Brewer vs. Andy Uhrich
Anthony Lemon vs. Codie Shuffield
Brian Hall vs. Cortez Phelia



No way am I paying for this shit card.

Hell no. They might as well put this on SpikeTV as well. As much potential as Chandler vs. Will Brooks has, it still is no where near what Alvarez-Chandler III was going to be. I was hoping this was not going to happen. At this point, this card is screwed.