Stacked Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals Pairings set for Bellator Season 4 Premiere LIVE March 5th on MTV2 - Bellator Fighting Championships

Stacked Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals Pairings set for Bellator Season 4 Premiere LIVE March 5th on MTV2 - Bellator Fighting Championships

CHICAGO, Ill. (February 8, 2011) - Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the promotion's Season 4 Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal Pairings for Bellator 35, the premiere event at the Tachi Palace Casino & Resort in Lemoore, California on Saturday, March 5, 2011. With all four of the highly anticipated Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal fights on the schedule, Bellator 35 will serve as the launching point for talent-stacked welterweight tournament which will air LIVE on MTV2.


"This Welterweight tournament is stacked. Every fight should be hyper-competitive" said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Any one of these 8 fighters could win it, make $100,000 and earn the right to fight Askren for our world title.



View Fight Card Here: Bellator 35 Fight Card



Kicking things off it will be Judo vs. Judo as "Judo" Jim Wallhead and former Judoka Olympian Rick Hawn clash for a spot in the semifinals. Currently riding an eight-fight win streak, Wallhead will be looking to ride the momentum from a recent Bellator victory over UFC veteran Ryan Thomas into the semifinals, while the promising former Olympian Hawn will look to add to his perfect 9-0 professional record.



The evening's second 170 lbs. quarterfinal finds Army and Bellator veteran Steve Carl taking on the highly touted Bellator newcomer Jay "Thoroughbred" Hieron. Carl will look to capitalize on his Season 2 Welterweight Tournament experience to get past the highly regarded Hieron, who has not lost a fight in the last three years.



Additionally two Bellator veterans will collide in a long-awaited rematch when Dan "The Handler" Hornbuckle meets Brent Weedman in a quarterfinal pairing. Hornbuckle looks to get one step closer to a redemptive fight with current Bellator World Welterweight Champion Ben Askren, who he lost to in the Bellator Season 2 Welterweight Finals. However, he'll first have to go through Weedman who will look to redeem a 2006 submission loss to Hornbuckle while improving his impressive win streak to eleven-straight.



Leather will be flying in the Bellator 35 Main Event, as heavy-handed former Bellator World Welterweight Champion Lyman "Cyborg" Good will collide with fast-rising undefeated knockout artist Chris "The Assassin" Lozano. Both Good and Lozano are content to keep things standing which should provide a highly entertaining fight for Bellator fans.



For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator





About Bellator Fighting Championships



Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator's founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships' executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator Fighting Championships is the first MMA promotion to hold a nationally televised tournament format. Bellator's fourth season will begin March 5, 2011, airing LIVE on MTV2.



About MTV2



MTV2 is a man's best friend, available in nearly 80 million homes and with the highest concentration of males 12-24 and 12-34 on TV today. A vibrant mix of music, lifestyle and action sports programming, MTV2 has reflected the habits and behavior of young people since its launch in 1996. MTV2 is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.