KANSAS CITY, Mo. (June 17, 2010) – Bellator Fighting Championships crowned its second Season 2 champion Thursday night as former NCAA wrestling superstar and U.S. Olympian Ben Askren put on a grappling clinic to neutralize knockout artist and rising MMA star Dan Hornbuckle in a dominating and well-rounded performance.

The 25-year-old University of Missouri product drew from the vocal support of an adoring crowd at the Kansas City Power & Light District to win a unanimous decision victory and complete the metamorphosis from highly touted prospect to full-fledged MMA star that many experts had predicted.

With his new wife Amy watching cageside, Askren (6-0) controlled the fight from the start, taking the veteran Hornbuckle to the mat early on in all three rounds and holding him at bay with his world-class wrestling skills. Hornbuckle tried to stop the momentum a few times, attempting a triangle choke mid-way through Round 2 and a kimura mid-way through Round 3, but Askren was able to escape both submissions.

“This is exactly the kind of performance we had hoped Ben would put on when we signed him six months ago,” Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “He showed some great talent in his first two Bellator fights but saved the best performance for last. It was a tremenously impressive night for Ben all the way around.  As an MMA fan, I cannot wait to see his World Title fight against Lyman Good this fall. ”

Afterward, Askren told Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith that he has already shifted his sights to reigning Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good, who he’ll face in a title fight later this year.

“Lyman, keep my belt warm,” he said as his hometown crowd egged him on. “Shine it up once a week and enjoy it while you can because it’s mine, baby.”

Joining Askren in the winner’s circle was Lisa Ward, the 27-year-old Seattle-based submission artist who improved her pro record to 13-3 and gave fans a sneak preview of what they’ll see when she enters the cage as part of Bellator’s upcoming Season 3 Women’s Tournament beginning in August.

Ward wasted no time locking 19-year-old MMA up-and-comer Stephanie Frausto (2-2) into a tight rear-naked choke, putting her to sleep and ending the fight via technical submission just 2:01 into Round 1. Ward said after the fight that she is hoping for tournament matchup with Megumi Fujii, the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound female fighter, who handed Ward one of her three losses during a 2007 showdown in Canada.

“I would love another shot at Megumi,” Ward said. “We definitely have some unfinished business.”

Earlier, 24-year-old Missouri native Jose Vega delivered yet another Bellator “YouTube moment” with a highlight-reel knockout of North Carolina-based jiu-jitsu specialist Jarrod “The Wild Card” Card just 39.8 seconds into the first round of their “Bantamweight Feature Fight.”

After setting it up with a pair of stiff leg kicks, Vega (8-3) connected with a left hook to Card’s jaw, knocking him unconscious and dropping him to the canvas, bringing Vega’s many hometown fans to their feet.

“I’m lost for words,” an emotional Vega said afterward. “I’ve never had a KO before, but my hands have improved – [former Bellator fighters] Brian Davidson, James Krause and Tyler Stinson have been helping me with that. I saw the opening and I just went for it.”

In the first televised fight of the night, IFL and M1 veteran Raphael Davis improved his record to 9-1 by dominating Arena Football League veteran and one-time Nebraska state high school wrestling champion Demetrius Richards (5-3). Davis took the fight to the ground early on and quickly took Richards’ back, wearing him down with hammer fists and a flurry of knees to the body before Richards submitted to punches just 2:51 into Round 1.

The event also played host to five Local Feature Fights:

-       Tyler Stinson def. Leonardo Pecanha via rear-naked choke (1:42)

-       Rudy Bears def. Brian Green via rear-naked choke (3:49)

-       Cole Konrad def. John Orr via unanimous decision

-       Jared Downing def. Chad Vandenberg via rear-naked choke (11:35)

Fans who missed Thursday night’s action can watch all the best moments this weekend during special highlight shows on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2. Check your local listings for exact dates and times.

Bellator returns to action next Thursday night from the Fourth Street Live entertainment district in downtown Louisville, Ky., where Bellator will conclude its second season with the championship rounds of its Middleweight and Featherweight Tournaments.

The two championship fights and the rest of the Bellator 23 featured card will again be televised live on FOX Sports Net.

Former Olympic wrestler Ben Askren showed the world that he belongs in the sport of mixed-martial-arts by dominating Dan Hornbuckle at Bellator 22 Thursday night to win the Bellator Fighting Championships Season 2 welterweight tournament.


Fighting at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Miss., Askren dominated his opponent throughout all three rounds of their tournament final bout. Having only one year under his belt as a professional mma fighter, Askren looked right at home from the start of the fight by taking Hornbuckle to the mat at will, keeping the fight there through most of the three rounds.


Hornbuckle did have some offensive spurts, he landing a few solid punches in the fight and threatened to take the fight late in the third with a kimura off his back. But Askren proved too much and earned the judges decision easily by a score of 30-27 across the board.


Askren will now face Bellator’s current welterweight champion Lyman Good, and addressed the champ in his post victory comments.


“Lyman, keep my belt warm. Shine it once a week and enjoy it while you’ve got it because it’s mine.”


HT: Bellator.com

It took a while, but welterweight Ben Askren finally earned a Bellator
win over somebody not named Ryan Thomas.

The former Olympic wrestler saved perhaps his best performance for last,
and the 25-year-old ran roughshod over the formerly streaking Dan
Hornbuckle en route to claiming Bellator's season-two welterweight
tournament crown.

The win served as the featured contest in Wednesday's Bellator 22 event
at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City. As with
all Bellator events, the card aired nationally on FOX Sports Net.

Tonight’s Bellator Fighting Championship 22 event is going down live at the Kansas City Power & Light District featuring the conclusion of Bellator’s welterweight tournament, featuring Dan Hornbuckle and Ben Askren.

The event will air live on FOX Sports Net (or on a few hours’ delay if preempted by local sports programming) beginning at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST), with a highlights packages airing Saturday on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

The MMA News likes to keep the spoilers off the main page, so to see the full results from Bellator Fighting Championships 22 event click

Main Card:
Welterweight Tournament Championship: Ben Askren def. Dan Hornbuckle via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Female Showcase Fight: Lisa Ward via submission (rear-naked choke) – R1, 2:01
Catchweight Fight @ 140 pounds: Jose Vega def. Jarrod Card via knockout – R1, 0:39
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Raphael Davis def. Demetrius Richards via submission (punches) – R1, 2:51

Undercard:
Local Main Event: Tyler Stinson def. Leonardo Pecanha via submission (rear naked choke) – R1, 1:42
Local Co-Main Event: Rudy Bears def. Brian Green via submission (rear naked choke) – R1, 3;29
Local Feature Fight #2: Cole Konrad def. John Orr via unanimous decision(30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Local Feature Fight #3: Jared Downing def. Chad Vandenberg via submission (rear-naked-choke) – R3, 1:35

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

Bellator 22 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 official results of the weigh-in are as follows:

MAIN CARD:

Dan Hornbuckle (170 lbs.) vs. Ben Askren (170 lbs.) @ 170 lbs.

Stephanie Frausto (114 lbs.) vs. Lisa Ward (115 lbs.) @ 115 lbs.

Jarrod Card (139.75 lbs.) vs. Jose Vega (139.75 lbs.) @ 140 lbs. (previously negotiated CW)

Demetrius Richards (205 lbs.) vs. Raphael Davis (205.5 lbs.) @ 205 lbs.

LOCAL FEATURE FIGHTS:

Leonardo Pecanha (169.75 lbs.) vs. Tyler Stinson (170.25 lbs.) @ 170 lbs.

Brian Green (179.75 lbs.) vs. Rudy Bears (180 lbs.) @ 180 lbs. (previously negotiated CW)

John Orr (257 lbs.) vs. Cole Konrad (266 lbs.) @ 265 lbs.

Jared Downing (135 lbs.) vs. Chad Vandenberg (136 lbs.) @ 135 lbs.

All fighters competing in tonight's Bellator 22 event, including headliners and welterweight tournament finalists Ben Askren and Dan Hornbuckle, successfully made weight for the show.

Weigh-ins took place Wednesday at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Kansas City, Mo., the same venue that hosts tonight's FOX Sports Net-televised event.

Hornbuckle and Askren both weighed 170 pounds.

Tonight’s official weigh-ins for Bellator Fighting Championship 22 is set to go down at the Kansas City Power & Light District beginning at 9 PM EST (6 PM PST). The event is headlined by the welterweight tournament final between Dan Hornbuckle and Ben Askren.

Fans can watch the weigh-ins live at Bellator.com, as the promotion will provide live streaming video from the venue.

The same venue will host Thursday’s event which will air live on FOX Sports Net (or on a few hours’ delay if preempted by local sports programming), with a highlights packages airing Saturday on NBC, Telemundo and mun2.

Main Card:
Welterweight Tournament Championship: Dan Hornbuckle (170) vs. Ben Askren (170)
Female Showcase Fight: Lisa Ward (115) vs. Stephanie Frausto (114)
Catchweight Fight @ 140 pounds: Jose Vega (139.75) vs. Jarrod Card (139.75)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Demetrius Richards (205) vs. Raphael Davis (205.5)

Undercard:
Local Main Event: Leonardo Pecanha (169.75) vs. Tyler Stinson (170.25)
Local Co-Main Event: Brian Green (179.75) vs. Rudy Bears (180) (catchweight bout 180 pounds)
Local Feature Fight #2: John Orr (257) vs. Cole Konrad (266)
Local Feature Fight #3: Jared Downing (135) vs. Chad Vandenberg (136)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (May 26, 2010) — Ben Askren, who won two NCAA wrestling championships while competing at the University of Missouri and then represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games, will headline Bellator Fighting Championships’ latest event at KC Live! in the Kansas City Power & Light District on June 17th.

Askren (5-0) will take on MMA superstar Dan Hornbuckle (21-2) in the finals of Bellator’s ongoing Welterweight Championship Tournament. The winner will become the No. 1 contender to reigning Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good (10-0) and will earn the chance to face Good in a world title fight later this year.

The much anticipated Askren-Hornbuckle showdown is one of eight fights scheduled as part of the June 17th event, which marks Bellator’s second visit in six weeks to the Power & Light District, a state-of-the-art, open-air, mixed-use entertainment venue in the heart of downtown Kansas City, owned and managed by The Cordish Company.

The event, Bellator 22, will be televised LIVE on FOX Sports Net and during special taped highlight shows the following Saturday night on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2.

Tickets are on sale now at The Midland by AMC box office in downtown Kansas City and at ticketmaster.com. General admission tickets start at just $15 in advance/$25 at the door. Ringside and VIP tickets are also available and start at $75.

Other scheduled fights include:

- Winfield, Kan., native Tyler Stinson (17-6) vs. Omaha-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Leonardo Pechana (11-5) in the evening’s “Local Main Event”
- Kansas City’s Tammie Schneider vs. Lisa Ward in a “Female Showcase” fight at 115 lbs.
- Kansas City’s John Orr (5-4) vs. former NCAA Champion wrestler and current Brock Lesnar training partner Cole Konrad (3-0) in a “Heavyweight Feature Fight”

“We’re thrilled to be coming back to Kansas City for another event at the Power & Light District,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Our first trip to the venue back in late April produced one of the most magical events we’ve ever been a part of. Kansas City is a great fight town with great fans and the Power & Light District is a one-of-a-kind venue. We can’t wait to come back on June 17th with a Main Event fight featuring one of the top welterweights in the world, Dan Hornbuckle, and another star on the rise in Ben Askren.”

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

Bellator's season-two tournament finals will take place in the Bluegrass
State.

While initial reports from the company suggested that the season-two
ending Bellator 24 event, which takes place on June 24, would be held at
the Kansas City Power & Light District, the organization will
instead make its first venture to Kentucky.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced today on MMAjunkie.com Radio that Bellator 24 would take place in
Louisville, Ky., and additional sources have indicated that the Fourth Street Live! entertainment complex is the
likely host venue.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (April 29, 2010) – Bellator Fighting Championships put the spotlight on its middleweight division tournament during Bellator 16 Thursday night with four dominant quarterfinal performances that saw, Las Vegas powerhouse Eric Schambari, judo black belt Bryan “The Beast” Baker, all-American college wrestler Jared Hess and Siberian striker Alexander Shlemenko advance to the tournament’s semifinals.

The action-packed event played to a boisterous sellout crowd on a warm and windswept spring night at the Kansas City Power & Light District, an open-air entertainment venue in the heart of Kansas City’s resurgent downtown.

Afterwards, Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney revealed that Schambari will face Baker in a rematch of a split decision victory for Baker and Hess will take on Shlemenko during the tournament’s semifinal round on May 27th.

“We had another great night, in a magical, electrifying venue here in Kansas City,” Rebney said. “The four fighters who advanced will now face each other to determine who earns their way to the Final round of our Middleweight tournament and who ultimately earns the right to face our champion, Hector Lombard, for the middleweight title.”

One of the nights dominant performances belonged to Baker, the former WEC standout, who took opponent Sean Loeffler (18-5) to the ground early on in Round 1, neutralized him with a series of body shots, forced him to give up his back and then finished him with an impressive ground-and-pound just 2:43 into the fight. It was Baker’s seventh consecutive first round stoppage victory.

Afterward, the Victorville, Calif., native said he’s gunning for a rematch with Schambari, who Baker defeated via a controversial split decision during a WEC fight in December 2007.

“I want to see what he’s learned,” Baker (12-1) said of Schambari. “I’ve beat him once and I’m gonna beat him again.”

In his fight, Schambari, a former competitive powerlifter and childhood Jr. Olympic level swimmer, used his tremendous strength to submit former TUF contestant Luke Zachrich (10-2) via arm triangle just 3:34 into Round 1, improving his pro record to 12-1.

“I was driving my shoulder and my bicep into his carotid artery,” Schambari told Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith after the fight. “I could hear that he was starting to choke so I just squeezed as hard as I could. Now I’m looking forward to facing Bryan again. It’s my chance to set right what once went wrong.”

In the nights most unorthodox fight, Shlemenko, who signed with Bellator last week and arrived stateside on Sunday, used a powerful spinning back-fist to open a cut on the bridge of Matt Major’s nose early on in Round 1 and never turned back, putting on a striking clinic and dominating a three-round standup fight that ended with a clear-cut unanimous decision victory.

Afterward, Shlemenko, who improved his pro record to a remarkable 28-4, said he is already looking forward to his semifinal round matchup with Hess.

“I’m going to prepare to knock the guy out,” he said through his translator.

Hess, a former standout wrestler at the University of Central Oklahoma used a crafty guillotine choke against the cage to submit former University of Iowa wrestler and IFL champ Ryan McGivern (13-7) at 1:54 into Round 2. It was Hess’s second straight win since his loss to reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard in the Bellator Season 1 finals last June.

“I knew [McGivern] was a wrestler too, so I knew it was going to go to the ground,” Hess (11-1-1) said afterward as his parents looked on from cage-side seats. “The guillotine just felt right. I cinched it up and waited for him to tap.”

The evening marked the conclusion of Bellator’s Season 2 quarterfinal round. Only four fighters now remain in each of Bellator’s eight-man tournaments at featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight.

The semifinal round begins in the lightweight division next Thursday at Boston’s historic Wang Theatre where UFC veteran and MMA fan favorite Roger Huerta takes on emerging star Pat Curran and “Submission of the Year” title holder Toby Imada faces former all-American college wrestler Carey Vanier. The night will be punctuated with a Super Fight between Bellator World Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez and tough UFC veteran Josh “the Dentist” Neer. Tickets are available at citicenter.com.

Fans who missed Thursday night’s action can watch all the best moments this weekend during special highlight shows on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2. Check your local listings for exact dates and times.

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