Roger Huerta. Photo property of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

CHICAGO, Ill. — Roger Huerta, the top free agent in MMA and one of the sport’s brightest young stars, announced today that he has signed an exclusive contract with Bellator Fighting Championships and will compete in the promotion’s upcoming Season 2 lightweight tournament.

The 26-year-old Huerta (20-3-1) comes to Bellator in the prime of his career after a 3½-year run in the UFC, where he rose to international prominence with wins over top talents like Clay Guida, Leonard Garcia and John Halverson and became the first MMA fighter ever to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

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The fight lineup for MFC 25: Vindication is proving to be one of the most talent-laden rosters in the organization’s history.

With the official main event still to be announced, the MFC has already lined up five action-packed fights to highlight the card which will air live on HDNet Fights on Friday, May 7 from the Northlands Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

In the co-main event, a pair of light heavyweights will battle for the position of No. 1 contender for the MFC’s 205-pound belt. Top-ranked Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (12-1), who will be fighting in his home town, takes on Brazilian standout Wilson Gouveia (12-7), who is making his promotional debut and taking on a new role in the light heavyweight ranks moving up from middleweight. Jimmo has won 12 straight fights since his pro debut and is coming off a convincing decision victory over former MFC light heavyweight champ Emanuel Newton at MFC 23. Gouveia has put together an impressive career resume that includes wins over such notables as Jason MacDonald, Jason Lambert, and Seth Petruzelli.

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CHICAGO, Ill. – Bellator Fighting Championships made two more noteworthy additions to its upcoming Season 2 middleweight tournament today with the signings of 9-1-1 Bellator Season 1 tournament finalist Jared Hess and 18-4 MMA veteran Sean “The Destroyer” Loeffler.

Hess and Loeffler are the fourth and fifth confirmed participants in the eight-man middleweight tournament, joining Bryan “The Beast” Baker, Matt Major and Eric Schambari. Overall, the group boasts a combined winning percentage of .859 (55 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw).

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Las Vegas’ top amateur mixed martial arts promotion, Tuff-N-Uff, returns to the Orleans Hotel & Casino on Friday, March 26, and the organization’s latest fight card features a trio of championship fights.

One of the most famous bloodlines in MMA will be featured in the evening’s main event as Ryan Couture, son of UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture, headlines the card against Sean Bollinger with Tuff-N-Uff’s vacant 155-pound title on the line.

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Straka’s first guest UFC president Dana White. Photo property of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

DALLAS—HDNet announced today that it will add the new, original series “Fighting Words with Mike Straka,” to its Friday night lineup. The 30-minute one-on-one weekly interview program will feature revealing conversations with the top stars in mixed martial arts.  “Fighting Words with Mike Straka” is scheduled to debut on Friday, March 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET.  The premiere episode will feature a rare, 30-minute interview with one of the most influential people in Mixed Martial Arts - UFC President Dana White.

In the following weeks, host Mike Straka will present unique insights into the sport’s most interesting personalities including King Mo, Gegard Mousasi, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, Matt Hughes, Frank Shamrock and Bobby Lashley.

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Toby Imada during his bout with Jorge Masvidal. Photo property of Bellator.

CHICAGO, Ill. – Toby Imada, whose jaw-dropping “Submission of the Year” helped put Bellator Fighting Championships on the map during its debut season, will return to the promotion for its upcoming Season 2 lightweight tournament.

Imada’s remarkable submission, an inverted triangle choke of the heavily favored Jorge Masvidal at Bellator V, became an overnight YouTube sensation (more than 650,000 people have watched it online to date) and took home honors for “Submission of the Year” from the 2009 World MMA Awards and virtually every major MMA news site.

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KANSAS CITY – Tyler Stinson, a 24-year-old native of Winfield, Kan., was the unanimous winner of an open tryout sponsored by Bellator Fighting Championships on Saturday, earning him a chance to fight in Bellator’s upcoming nationally-televised event at the Kansas City Power & Light District on April 29th.

Stinson was one of 72 fighters from as far away as New York, California, Texas and Arizona to travel to Lenexa, Kan., for the tryout, which was judged by Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney and a panel of other top Bellator talent executives. Participants included former veterans of the WEC, IFL and other top promotions.

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An undefeated fighter from Cincinnati and a police officer from Scandinavia are the latest additions to Bellator Fighting Championships’ upcoming Season 2 lightweight tournament.

The two fighters — Janne Tulirinta (12-3) and Chad Hinton (6-0) — join Ferrid Kheder, Mike Ricci and Carey Vanier in the nationally televised tournament, which begins April 8th.  The last three 155 lbs. fighters will be announced later this month.

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Before a sold-out crowd at the River Cree Resort and Casino, Hollett (11-3) submitted fellow heavy hitter Aron Lofton with an armbar at 3:02 of Round 1 in the night’s main event. Lofton (7-3) arguably had the edge in the early exchange of strikes and put Hollett on his back with a strong takedown but “The Hulk” positioned himself perfectly to apply the fight-finishing submission.

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Continue reading "Bellator Season 2 and 3 to Air on Fox Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo"

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