Final Card Set for Bellator MMA 96 on June 19 in Oklahoma

[keithlewis]

Final Card Set for Bellator MMA 96 on June 19 in Oklahoma


The night is now set for Bellator MMA as the promotion returns to Spike TV June 19th live from WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The night will feature the start of the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Summer Series Tournaments, as well as the return of War Machine.

The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 7 p.m. CST and feature two hours of action on Spike TV. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 5:00 p.m. CST. Following the event, Spike will air the premier of Fight Master: Bellator MMA, which features 32 of the best welterweight fighters on the planet as they compete for a spot in the Bellator MMA Tournament and a $100,000 prize.



Bellator MMA Main Card:

Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament: King Mo Lawal (9-2) vs. Seth Petruzelli (14-7)
Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament: Renato "Babalu" Sobral (37-10) vs. Jacob Noe (11-2)
Bellator Heavyweight Tournament: Vinicius "Spartan" Queiroz (6-3) vs. Rich Hale (21-5)
Bellator Heavyweight Tournament: Vitaly Minakov (10-0) vs. Ron Sparks (8-1)
Welterweight Feature Fight: War Machine (12-4) vs. Blas Avena (8-6)


Bellator MMA Preliminary Card:

Bantamweight Feature Fight: Justin McNally (1-1) vs. Steven Artoff (5-1)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Brandon Girtz (8-2) vs. Derek Campos (10-3)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Brandon Halsey (3-0) vs. Joe Yaeger (5-1)
Heavyweight Feature Fight: Jeremiah O'Neal vs. Raphael Butler (5-0)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Keith Miner (5-4) vs. Damon Jackson (4-0)
Bantamweight Feature Fight: Mike Maldonado (4-0) vs. Chavous Smith (2-3)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Keith Berry (14-10) vs. Cortez Coleman (9-3)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Jarrod Card (13-6) vs. Chas Skelly (10-0)

[keithlewis]

Martinez Replaces Spartan in Bellator Heavyweight Tourney


A knee injury has forced heavyweight Vinicius Spartan out of the Summer Series Heavyweight Tournament, and has been replaced by fellow heavyweight Ryan Martinez. With the change, the night will now see Rich Hale battle Martinez for a spot in the Bellator Heavyweight Summer Series Tournament Finals.

"I'm looking at this opportunity as a blessing," Martinez said. "Rich is a very qualified and tough guy, but I'm ready. I've been training with King Mo and Roy Nelson over the last few months, so I basically went through a normal training camp and haven't stopped training. This is a huge chance for me, and I'm ready."

"Ryan's a huge potential player in our HW division," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "We had him slotted for our next HW tournament, but paid him to be here and make weight as if he was going to fight, just for this reason. And, his back to back camps with Mo and Roy have him ready for tomorrow night's fight.