From Bellator Fighting
Championships:
CHICAGO, Ill. (February 3, 2012) —
Bellator Fighting Championships returns to Mohegan Sun Arena on March 30 for
Bellator 63: The Assassin vs. Psycho. The Friday night affair will feature the
quarterfinals of the Bellator Season 6 Welterweight Tournament, along with a
host of preliminary fights featuring some of the best East Coast talent the
sport has to offer. Tickets for the event go on sale at 10 a.m. EST on
Saturday, February 4 and are available through Ticketmaster.com or at the
Mohegan Sun Box Office. Tickets are priced from $30-$70.
The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. EST on MTV2 and in
commercial-free HD on EPIX. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. EST, with the first fight
scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The preliminary card, featuring the area’s top local
talent will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com starting at
7 p.m. EST.
The night will be highlighted by Karl “Psycho” Amoussou (@KarlAmoussou) and
Chris “The Cleveland Assassin” Lozano as the two vie for a spot in the
welterweight semifinals. The Frenchman, Amoussou is known for his tenacious
style and desire to finish every fight, leading to 11 finishes in his 13 career
wins. For Lozano, the Cleveland Assassin looks for another shot at the Bellator
title after coming up short last year against eventual tournament winner
Douglas Lima. While Lozano should be a familiar name to Bellator fans after
competing in the previous two welterweight tournaments, the evolution Lozano
has made over the last half year should make “The Cleveland Assassin” one of
the most dangerous fighters inside the Bellator cage.
“After the last tournament, I knew I needed to grow, so I decided to make the
move to Greg Jackson’s,” said Lozano. “Over the last months, I have just
elevated my game by leaps and bounds. Every day I’m surrounded by some of the
best fighters in the world, and it has made me a better fighter. It’s
controlled chaos. I’ve really gotten back to some of the things that made me so
dangerous, and I can’t wait to show off all the training and hard work this
March.”
“I don't care who I fight in the upcoming Bellator Welterweight Tournament,”
said Amoussou. “I'm going to rock the Bellator welterweight division and
destroy every fighter that stands in front of me. I don’t care where you train
or who you are, if you are in my way to the belt, I feel sorry for you.”
Former Bellator Welterweight finalist Ben Saunders (@BenSaundersMMA) returns
and will take on Bellator newcomer Raul Amaya in quarterfinal action. Saunders
tore through the Bellator Season 5 Welterweight tournament with a TKO victory
over Chris Cisneros and a submission victory of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
Luis “Sapo” Santos, but fell short against tournament winner Douglas Lima in
the finals and now Saunders is poised to make another run at the title. Amaya
enters the tournament with a spotless 9-0 record and will be looking to stay
perfect on his way to the finals.
Brian Foster (@BrianFoster170) enters the tournament riding a four-fight win
streak, including two victories with the UFC. A true finisher in every sense of
the word, Foster is already making big plans for his Bellator career.
“I’m getting that belt,” Foster said. “I want to fight the best. I want to
fight Ben Askren and take home that belt.” Standing in his way will be David
Rickels (@TheCaveman316), who holds an impressive 3-0 record inside the
Bellator cage.
Long time Bellator veteran Bryan “The Beast” Baker (@bryanbeastbaker) is making
the drop to welterweight and will try his hand at 170 lbs. when he battles
Carlos “Indio” Pereira. Fighting almost exclusively out of Brazil, Pereira
brings a wealth of experience to the Bellator cage, and should be a force
within a loaded welterweight tournament.
Originally slated for a tournament spot, “War Machine” Jon Koppenhaver was
replaced by Lozano after the troubled welterweight encountered legal issues
that prevented him from entering the tournament.
“Mohegan Sun has been a second home to us throughout this company’s history, so
I’m thrilled to be returning on March 30,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO
Bjorn Rebney. “Top to bottom, this is one of the deepest welterweight fields
we’ve ever assembled. This tournament is stacked with experienced fighters that
are still in their primes, so we should be in for a great night of fights.”
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter
@BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and
check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
