Bellator Fighting Championships featherweight contender Joe
Warren has impressed MMA observers in his current run
with a controlling style and an unrelenting pace.

But despite a pair of Bellator season two wins over Georgi Karakhanyan
and Eric Marriott, the former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion says
he's still figuring out the game of mixed martial arts.

Give him a little more time, Warren says, and he'll be nearly
unstoppable - especially when he drops down to a more natural
weightclass.

Tonight’s Bellator Fighting Championship 16 event features eight bouts which include four middleweight quarter final fights. The event takes place at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Miss.

The event will be distributed live in prime time by FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network affiliates. Highlights will air Saturday on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

Tonight’s show is headlined by middleweight fighters Bryan “The Beast” Baker (11-1), a WEC veteran, and Sean “The Destroyer” Loefller (14-3) who is riding a six-fight win streak.

See the full live results for Bellator 16 after the jump.

The full results and match ups for Bellator VXI are as follows:


Tournament bouts

- Middleweight Quarter-Final: Bryan Baker def. Sean Loeffler via TKO (strikes) – R1, 2:43
- Middleweight Quarter-Final: Jared Hess def. Ryan McGivern via submission (guillotine) – R2, 1:54
- Middleweight Quarter-Final: Alexander Shlemenko def. Matt Major via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Middleweight Quarter-Final: Eric Schambari def. Luke Zachrich via submission (side choke) – R1, 3:04

Non-Tournament Bouts

- Brent Weedman def. Rudy Bears via TKO – R1, 4:19
- Danny Tims def. Brian Davidson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Eric Marriott def. Demi Deeds via submission (triangle choke) – R2, 3:02
- Drew Dober def. Nick Nolte via submission (arm triangle) – R1, 4:45

Wednesday saw all 16 fighters make weight for tonight’s Bellator Fighting Championship 16 event, which is set to kick off with the middleweight quarter-final bouts of the promotions season-two middleweight tournament.

The weigh-ins, as well as tonight’s show, took place at the Kansas City Live! stage at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Miss. The event will be distributed live in prime time by FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network affiliates. Highlights will air Saturday on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

Tonight’s show is headlined by middleweights Bryan “The Beast” Baker (11-1), a WEC veteran, and Sean “The Destroyer” Loefller (14-3) who is riding a six-fight win streak

The full weigh-in results include:

Main Card

- Bryan Baker (185.5) vs. Sean Loeffler (186)
- Alexander Shlemenko (184.5) vs. Matt Major (184.25)
- Ryan McGivern (185.25) vs. Jared Hess (185.25)
- Eric Schambari (184) vs. Luke Zachrich (183.5)

Preliminary Card

- Rudy Bears (173) vs. Brent Weedman (170)
- Brian Davidson (136) vs. Danny Tims (135)
- Demi Deeds (161.25) vs. Eric Marriott (160.5)
- Drew Dober (169.75) vs. Nick Nolte (170.75)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (April 28, 2010) — On the eve of Bellator Fighting Championships’ much-anticipated show at the Kansas City Power & Light District, all 16 fighters competing in tomorrow’s event participated in an official weigh-in earlier this evening.

Bellator 16 will be broadcast live in prime time nationwide on Thursday on FOX Sports Net and during special Bellator highlight shows this Saturday night on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

The card’s Main Event is a first round matchup in Bellator’s eight man-middleweight tournament featuring WEC veteran Bryan “The Beast” Baker (11-1) and Sean “The Destroyer” Loeffler (14-3), a submission artist from Southern California.

The official results of the weigh-in are as follows:

Tournament Card:

Bryan Baker (185.5) versus Sean Loeffler (186) – at 185 lbs.

Alexander Shlemenko (184.5) versus Matt Major (185.25) – at 185 lbs.

Jared Hess (185.25) versus Ryan McGivern (185.25) – at 185 lbs.

Eric Schambari (184) versus Luke Zachrich (183.5) – at 185 lbs.

Local Feature Fight Card:

Rudy Bears (173*) versus Brent Weedman (170) – at 170 lbs.

Danny Tims (135) versus Brian Davidson (136) – at 135 lbs.

Eric Marriott (161.5) versus Demi Deeds (161.25) – at 162 lbs.

Drew Dober (169.75) versus Nick Nolte (170.75) – at 170 lbs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (April 28, 2010) — On the eve of Bellator Fighting Championships’ much-anticipated show at the Kansas City Power & Light District, all 16 fighters competing in tomorrow’s event participated in an official weigh-in earlier this evening.

Bellator 16 will be broadcast live in prime time nationwide on Thursday on FOX Sports Net and during special Bellator highlight shows this Saturday night on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

The card’s Main Event is a first round matchup in Bellator’s eight man-middleweight tournament featuring WEC veteran Bryan “The Beast” Baker (11-1) and Sean “The Destroyer” Loeffler (14-3), a submission artist from Southern California.

The official results of the weigh-in are as follows:

Tournament Card:

Bryan Baker (185.5) versus Sean Loeffler (186) – at 185 lbs.

Alexander Shlemenko (184.5) versus Matt Major (185.25) – at 185 lbs.

Jared Hess (185.25) versus Ryan McGivern (185.25) – at 185 lbs.

Eric Schambari (184) versus Luke Zachrich (183.5) – at 185 lbs.

Local Feature Fight Card:

Rudy Bears (173*) versus Brent Weedman (170) – at 170 lbs.

Danny Tims (135) versus Brian Davidson (136) – at 135 lbs.

Eric Marriott (161.5) versus Demi Deeds (161.25) – at 162 lbs.

Drew Dober (169.75) versus Nick Nolte (170.75) – at 170 lbs.

Bellator Fighting Championships fighter Demi Deeds will likely make his promotional debut in a non-tournament bout
with Eric Marriott at Bellator 16.

MMAjunkie.com learned of the matchup from Deeds'
manager, Brian Green of SmokinMMA.com Sports Management, who said the
both parties have agreed to the matchup and bout agreements are expected
to be finalized shortly.

Deeds had been expected to face Tyler Stinson on the card, but the
open-tryout winner was pulled from the matchup in favor of a spot in the
promotion's season-two 170-pound tournament.

CHICAGO, Ill. (April 14, 2010) — Last-minute visa issues for Bellator lightweight Patricio Pitbull have postponed his Thursday night Bellator 14 fight with Canadian up-and-comer William Romero.

Instead, Bellator fans will be treated to a first round lightweight tournament showdown between MMA veteran and submission-of-the-year winner Toby Imada and former WEC and Midwest regional circuit standout James Krause. Krause was officially added to Bellator’s eight-man lightweight tournament earlier this week, replacing French judo expert Ferrid Kheder, who was forced to withdraw due to injury.

The Pitbull-Romero fight will now take place at Bellator 15 next Thursday at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

“Injuries and visa issues, while unfortunate, are bound to happen when you put on almost 100 fights over the course of 12 weeks,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “We plan for the unexpected to happen, though, and had James Krause—an outstanding young fighter—waiting in the wings. He’s a great match-up for Toby Imada and I know they’re going to put on a great fight Thursday in Chicago.”

The 23-year-old Krause, a native of Lee’s Summit, Mo. And longtime training partner of Bellator featherweight Eric Marriott, was a perfect 10-0 before two closely-contested losses to Donald Cerone and Ricardo Lamas in the WEC late last year. He bounced back in December with a second-round submission of Kalel Robinson in Kansas City’s Memorial Hall.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Bellator. For tickets, go to Ticketmaster.com.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (April 8, 2010) — Roger Huerta moved a step closer to a shot at the Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight tournament title Thursday night with a convincing victory over the previously undefeated Chad Hinton in front of an adoring crowd at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

The action-packed fight was the high point of Bellator 13, which marked Bellator’s Season 2 debut and its first live, nationwide broadcast on FOX Sports Net. The near-capacity crowd included Academy Award nominated actor Mickey Rourke and Super Bowl winner and NFL superstar Jeremy Shockey, who both came to cheer on Huerta in his first appearance under the Bellator banner.

In the night’s other tournament bouts, Joe Warren and Carey Vanier advanced into the semifinals of the featherweight and lightweight divisions and Georgi Karakhanyan advanced to the semifinals at featherweight with a highlight reel knockout of Bao Qauch.

But the night’s most talked-about fight will most certainly be the stirring match-up between the heavily-favored Huerta and Hinton, a 38-year-old Cincinnati native who refused to go down easy.

Hinton started strong and held his own during Round 1, but the momentum shifted early in Round 2 when Huerta took Hinton to the ground and began rotating between ground-and-pound and a series of crushing hammer fists. Hinton was able to escape the round, but lasted only 56 seconds into Round 3 when he was locked into a Huerta knee-bar.

“Chad Hinton was no joke,” said Huerta, who improved his record to 21-3-1. “And that’s part of why I love Bellator. Just because a guy like Chad hasn’t been publicized and hasn’t been on TV before doesn’t mean he’s not a great fighter. It was an honor to be out there with him and an honor to fight for Bellator. I’m happy to be back.”

Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney, who announced Huerta’s signing last month, called his return to the cage “great to watch.”

“Roger Huerta is back and he’s going to pose a big threat to all the other fighters at 155,” Rebney said. “He showed us a full arsenal of everything that he has to offer tonight and it was very impressive.”

In the night’s other highly anticipated fight, Warren, the former world champion Greco-Roman wrestler and NCAA all-American improved his record to 3-1 with a unanimous decision over 17-3 Eric Marriott in the quarterfinals of Bellator’s eight-man featherweight tournament.

Warren took the fight to the ground just 20 seconds into the first round and kept it there for all three rounds, switching between half mount and full mount and wearing Marriott down with a series of blows to the head.

The fight wasn’t without its scary moments for Warren, however. Roughly four minutes into Round 1, he was able to narrowly escape a Marriott armbar. The crafty Marriott then immediately shifted into a triangle choke, but Warren was able to hold on until the end of the round.

“I give Eric Marriott a lot of credit – that was a tight, tight triangle,” Warren said. “It was great technique and the bell definitely saved me. But I got out and I won and I’m excited to move on to the next round.”

In the first televised tournament fight of the night—a quarterfinal matchup in Bellator’s eight-man featherweight tournament—Karakhanyan (13-1-1), a former pro soccer star, dominated MMA veteran Quach from start to finish, connecting with a variety of high leg kicks before finishing him via TKO with a brutal knee to the head 4:05 into Round 1.

“My corner was telling me to circle around and take my time and I capitalized and knocked him out,” Karakhanyan said. “As soon as we clinched, I started throwing my knees and I connected and finished the fight. I’m excited to move on.”

In the night’s fourth and final televised tournament bout, Vanier (8-2) made an impressive case that he is a fighter to watch in the lightweight tournament, finishing former Army Ranger and Purple Heart honoree Joe Duarte (5-2) via TKO at 4:14 in Round 3.

“It was a really good fight for me,” said Vanier, a former all-American wrestler at Minnesota’s Augsburg College said. “It went exactly the way my camp and me thought it would go … We stuck to our game plan and it turned out well.”

All four tournament fights will re-air this Saturday night during special late-night highlight shows on NBC and Telemundo.

Thursday night’s event also included four Local Feature Fights between up-and-coming fighters from South Florida. The results are as follows:

Bout #1: Chris Manuel (7-3-2) def. Ralph Acosta (5-5) via guillotine choke (4:35)

Bout #2: Mikey Gomez (10-8) def. Moyses Gabin (4-3) via unanimous decision

Bout #7: Edson Diniz (10-3) def. John Kelly (4-1) via knee bar (4:36)

Bout #8: Vagner Rocha (4-0) def. Francisco Soares (3-2-1) via TKO (7:07)

For more information, please visit Bellator.com follow us on Twitter @BellatorMMA and on Facebook at Facebook.com/BellatorMMA

(Pictured Roguer Huerta submitting Chad Hinton via kneebar courtesy of TomHillPhotos.com)

The first event in Bellator Fighting Championship’s second season began Thursday night featuring the quarter-final bouts of the Featherweight and Lightweight tournaments. The venue for the action took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida and was distributed live by FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network affiliates.

The full quick results for Bellator 13 are as follows:

Tournament bouts

- Roger Huerta def. Chad Hinton via submission (kneebar) – R3, 0:56
- Joe Warren def. Eric Marriott via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bao Quach via TKO (strikes) – R1, 4:05
- Carey Vanier def. Joe Duarte via TKO (strikes) R3, 4:14

Non-Tournament bouts

- Chris Manuel def. Ralph Acosta via submission (guillotine choke) R3, 0:35
- Mikey Gomez def. Moyses Gabin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

View more images from Thursday night’s Bellator event after the jump

Eric Marriot vs. Joe Warren

Bao Quach vs. Georgi Karakanyam

Ralph Acosta vs. Chris Manuel

To view more photos visit www.TomHillPhotos.com

Bellator Fighting Championships  kicked off Season 2 tonight with the first fights in the promotions  lightweight and featherweight tournaments.

It was a night that witnessed the favorites comeout victorious in battles that were much closer than most imagined.

complete results for Bellator XIII   are listed below:

Chris Manuel def. Ralph Acosta by guillotine choke submission – Round 3, 0:35
Mikey Gomez def. Moyses Gabin by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Georgi Karakhanyan def. Bao Quach by knockout – Round 1 – 4:05
Joe Warren def. Eric Marriott by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Roger Huerta def. Chad Hinton by knee bar submission – Round 3, 0:56
Carey Vanier def. Joe Duarte by TKO – Round 3
Edson Diniz def. John Kelly by heel hook submission – Round 1, 4:36
Vagner Rocha def. Francisco Soares by TKO – Round 2, 2:07