From Bellator Fighting Championships:
CHICAGO, Ill. (February 5, 2010) – Bellator Fighting Championships continued to
bolster its roster of Season 2 middleweight tournament fighters today with the
signing of 11-1 former WEC standout Bryan “The Beast” Baker.
The 6-foot, 3-inch-tall Baker will be familiar to many Bellator fans thanks to
his dominating victory during a special feature fight at Bellator VIII last
June. He also boasts wins over UFC veteran Rory Singer (first round KO), TUF’s
Jesse Forbes (first round TKO) and a host of WEC veterans.
“The Beast is a dangerous addition to our middleweight tournament,” said
Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He caught my eye back at Bellator VIII
and I knew then and there that he would make a big impact on our 185-pound
challenger tournament.”
Baker is the second confirmed competitor in Bellator’s upcoming eight-man
Season 2 middleweight tournament, joining Eric Schambari, who also boasts a
near-flawless 11-1 professional record, with his sole loss coming against The
Beast. Bellator will also conduct tournaments at 145, 155, 170 lbs. during
Season 2, which begins April 8th. The winners in each division will be declared
No. 1 contenders to the current roster of champions.
The 24-year-old Baker was born and raised in the High Desert of California,
where he was a standout high school wrestler. He later earned a black belt in
judo and now trains in vale tudo at the Team Wildman gym in Denver.
“I’m a fighter pure and simple … I never really wanted to do anything else,”
Baker said. “From my first meal until the time I go to sleep, it’s all about
fighting, all about my career.”
Baker says his singular goal is to advance through Bellator’s Season 2
tournament to earn the chance to take on reigning World Middleweight Champion
Hector Lombard.
“I put so much effort into my training that it gives me 100 percent confidence
that I’m going to win every time,” Baker said. “Lombard has the belt and I’m
coming for his belt. I’d say that he better stay on top of his training or else
he’s in for a big surprise.”
Each of Bellator’s 24 fights during Seasons 2 and 3 will be distributed live in
prime time on Thursday nights on FOX Sports Net and its regional sports network
affiliates. The top moments from each week’s live events will then be condensed
into an action-packed 30-minute highlight show, broadcast every Saturday night,
late night, on NBC. A one-hour highlight show will air in Spanish on Telemundo
every Saturday night from midnight to 1 a.m.
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
with offices in Los Angeles and 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.
