The season debut of "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck" scored a 1.3 household rating and 1.6 million viewers.

Spike TV officials today emailed the ratings information to MMAjunkie.com.

Although the Sept. 15 broadcast was the highest-rated cable program in its timeslot among men 18-49, the ratings fell short to the "TUF 11" debut, which scored 1.9 million viewers earlier this year.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Josh Koscheck say’s that in order for him to become a good guy in the eye of the fans, he’d have to shave his head and change his name. Check out this behind the scenes look of Fight! Magazine’s latest photo shoot with the top contender for the UFC welterweight title.

Koscheck will coach opposite Georges St-Pierre on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” season 12, which begins this Saturday after the Spike broadcast of UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs Palhares.

Both Koscheck and GSP will face one another on Dec. 11 at UFC 124 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

PRESS RELEASE / CHICAGO, Ill. (September 7th, 2010) — Bellator Season 2 Middleweight Semifinalist Bryan “The Beast” Baker will face off with dangerous MMA veteran Jeremy Horn at Bellator 30 as Bellator Fighting Championships returns to “Fourth Street Live!” on September 23rd from Louisville, Kentucky.

After suffering the first TKO loss of his career, Baker is ready to make his return to the Bellator cage. Impressive victories over Sean Loeffler and Eric Schambari put Baker in the Bellator Season 2 Middleweight Tournament Finals and a win away from having the chance at the Middleweight Championship. Knockout specialist Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko was the only fighter standing in Baker’s way, and the hard-hitting Russian proved too much for Baker to handle, as Shlemenko delivered a first round TKO ending Baker’s tournament run.

“The whole goal was to have a shot at the title, and I didn’t get to that point, so obviously there is disappointment,” said Baker. “I didn’t get much of a chance to show my abilities in that fight, but I’m excited I get another chance in Louisville to give the fans a good show.”

The chance Baker is referring to is at Bellator 30 when he battles one of MMA’s most experienced fighters in Horn on September 23rd in Louisville. Horn, a veteran of over 100 fights since his professional career began in 1996, has fought MMA legends including Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Dan Severn, Frank Shamrock and Anderson Silva. Horn holds impressive victories over the likes of Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Chael Sonnen and others during his decorated fighting career.

Baker is well aware of the experience the battle-tested Horn brings to the cage, but hopes to use it to his advantage.

“Knowing who Jeremy has taken on, it just makes me even more focused for this fight. Fighting an opponent with a history like that, it pulls the better fighter out of me, and I’m excited for Bellator 30,” said an eager Baker. “Everyone knows Jeremy has made his career off of his submission moves, so I’m looking to stay on my feet. I’m more athletic than him, and my reach should give him all sorts of problems.”

For Horn, the longtime MMA mainstay sees the landscape of the sport changing in front of his eyes, and realizes that his vast amount of experience isn’t as valuable as it once was.

“As the sport progresses on, my experience starts to mean less and less in the ring,” said Horn. “I obviously have a good understanding of when to stay calm and when to turn things on, but for the most part, I feel like a lot of us are on a pretty level playing field. With a guy like Bryan, he is a well rounded fighter that doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses, and it’s just going to be a great fight.”

Not surprisingly, Baker and Horn aren’t the only ones looking forward to the matchup.

“Bryan was the favorite going into our Season 2 Middleweight Tournament, and deserves another high caliber fight to put him right back in the mix,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Jeremy Horn will be a perfect test for Bryan, and fans should be looking forward to a great fight.”

Bryan Baker fell short of Bellator gold in the promotion's second
season, but he'll soon get a chance to put a nice win on his resume.

The promotion confirmed today that Baker will meet
former UFC contender and MMA marathon man Jeremy Horn at Bellator 30, according to a press release issued today.

Bellator 30 takes place Sept. 23 at Fourth Street Live! in Louisville, Ky.

Bryan Baker fell short of Bellator gold in the promotion's second
season, but he'll soon get a chance to put a nice win on his resume.

The promotion confirmed today that Baker will meet
former UFC contender and MMA marathon man Jeremy Horn at Bellator 30, according to a press release issued today.

Bellator 30 takes place Sept. 23 at Fourth Street Live! in Louisville, Ky.

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(photo via Bellator.com)
Bellator Fighting Championship’s latest event, Bellator 27 is already underway at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Tex. with the a couple of preliminary bouts.

The live Fox Sports Net broadcast will begin at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST) and will be shown on other FSN regional sports network affiliates. With the kickoff of the football season fans may have a hard time finding a broadcast.

The event is highlighted by a featherweight championship match between champ Joe Soto and season two featherweight tournament winner Joe Warren.

Update: Season Two Bellator featherweight tournament winner Joe Warren (6-1), was able to survive a first round beating from current FW champ Joe Soto. Warren came out swinging in the second, catching Soto with some big punches in the opening seconds of the round. Soto tried to recover but ate a huge knee and was sent to the mat. Soto lands a few more rights before the referee can step in but the fight is over. Joe Warren becomes the new Bellator Featherweight champion.

Here are the full Bellator 27 live ‘Quick Results’:

Superfight
Bellator Featherweight Championship Bout: Joe Warren def. Joe Soto via KO (knee) – R2 @ 0:33 – to become new featherweight champ

Bellator Season 3 Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinals
Ulysses Gomez def. Travis Reddinger via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Zach Makovsky def. Nick Mamalis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ed West def. Bryan Goldsby via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Non-Tournament bouts
Middleweight bout: Andrew Craig def. Rodrigo Pinheiro via TKO (doctor stoppage) – R3 @ 2:53
Lightweight bout: Gilbert Jimenez def. Aaron Barringer via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Heavyweight bout: Richard Odoms def. Dale Mitchell via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Welterweight bout: Andrew Chappelle def. Joe Christopher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Light-heavyweight bout: Jon Kirk def. Shane Faulkner via TKO – R3 @ 2:19
Featherweight bout: Steven Peterson def. Ernest de la Cruz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

PRESS RELEASE / Chicago, Illinois – Bellator Fighting Championships officially announced today that the promotion will bring the first nationally televised, sanctioned MMA event to Wisconsin with Bellator 29, taking place in Milwaukee from the historic Rave-Eagles Ballroom on September 16th, 2010. The event will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net with a highlight show running on NBC Network.

The Bellator Season 3 event will feature two main-card semi-final tournament fights that include heavyweight tournament action along with special middleweight and light heavyweight feature fights, as well a host of exciting “Local Feature Fights”.

“We are thrilled to be the first promotion to bring live, nationally and internationally televised world-class MMA to this beautiful, lake front city,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “The historic Rave-Eagles Ballroom will be a great venue for Wisconsin fans to experience Bellator’s unique brand of MMA action.”

The Rave-Eagles Club was built in 1926 and was named to the National Register of Historic Places on July 29th, 1986. The Rave Eagles Ballroom is the largest venue at the club featuring 25,000 square feet and 1,500 seats which will provide an intimate venue for MMA fans.

The Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight tournament is now down to its final four with undefeated European sensation Damian “The Polish Pitbull” Grabowski squaring off against two-time NCAA wrestling champion Cole “Polar Bear” Konrad in Milwaukee. Russian Judo specialist Alexey Oleinik takes on Neil “Goliath” Grove in the other semi-final heavyweight matchup later this season. The winners will then clash in a championship match-up to crown Bellator’s first ever heavyweight champion.

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“The Ultimate Fighter” season 5 veteran Gabe Ruediger wanted to get back into the UFC since his release after losing to Melvin Guillard way back at UFC 63 in 2006. The lightweight fighter talks about telling UFC president Dana White that he wanted to get back to the promotion and that he wanted to face fellow TUF 5 fighter Joe Lauzon.

With an injury to Terry Etim earlier this month, Ruediger was offered a chance at the UFC and Lauzon.

In this interview Ruediger talks about getting another shot at the UFC, the short training period, and his personal beef with Joe Lauzon.

HT: BJPenn.com

PRESS RELEASE / CHICAGO, Ill. (August 18, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships announced today the official main card fights for Bellator 26 which is taking place at the Kansas City Power and Light District in Kansas City, MO. on Aug. 26th , marking the third appearance at the venue this year. In an opening round Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament fight, Mike “300” Hayes (12-3-1) takes on Russian submission specialist Alexey Oleinik.

Oleinik, a Judo black belt, is not only one of the most respected fighters in Russia, but also one of the most dangerous heavyweight submission fighters in the sport. Oleinik brings a phenomenal 27-5-1 record to the tournament with 23 of those 27 victories coming via submission.

This will be Hayes’ second appearance under the Bellator banner; he was victorious at Bellator 21 where he garnered a unanimous decision victory over Steve Banks.

Also on the card, longtime rivals Jose Vega and Danny Tims will square off in an overdue rubber match with an opening round Bellator Season 3 Bantamweight World Championship Tournament fight.

In Women’s Tournament action, undefeated Aisling Daly (9-0), the best female mixed martial artist in Ireland and the world’s No. 3-ranked 125 lbs. female fighter will take on dangerous veteran submission artist Lisa Ward (12-5).

The Fox Sports Net event will also feature an exciting Special Feature Fight between Season 2 Welterweight Tournament semi-finalist Steve Carl and hard-hitting UFC vet Rory Markham.

“The Kansas City Power & Light District has proven to be a consistently entertaining venue for us. I am glad that we’re able to bring yet another spectacular event to this great venue,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.