Bellator 117 Full Card Finalized at Iowa’s Mid-America Center on
Friday April 18th
Douglas Lima Faces Rick Hawn for the Welterweight Title
and the Bellator Lightweight Semifinals
Newport Beach, Calif. (March 27, 2014) – Douglas Lima and Rick Hawn will headline a packed night of fights from Iowa’s Mid-American Center on April 18th as the two clash in a Bellator Welterweight Title fight live on Spike TV. The event will also feature the Bellator Lightweight Semifinals with Brazilian knockout artist Patricky Pitbull facing Derek Campos and the undefeated Derek Anderson will fight polish phenom Marcin Held, along with a full card of local talent.
The event will broadcast live at 9 p.m. EST/ 8 p.m. CST on Spike TV. The preliminary card will be streamed live and free on Spike.com beginning at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST. Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com or by visiting the Mid-American Center Box Office.
Kicking off the Spike.com portion of the night will be a battle of Iowa natives as Joe Vedepo faces Ben Crowder. Both known for finishing fights quickly, Vedepo has won 12 of his 14 professional victories by KO or submission, but will have to hold off Crowder who has grabbed his last four wins by first round submission.
At 28-0 Julio Cesar Neves is making his Bellator debut against Josh Arocho. Known for his knockout power, Neves has won 17 victories by knockout with 11 coming in the first round and is looking for a KO in his fight against Arocho.
With only one professional loss, Jordan Parsons will fight Tim Bazer in a lightweight battle. Parsons enters the cage on a two-fight win streak and will need to get past Bazer who has recorded nine victories by submission.
After making his Bellator debut in September, Larue Burley returns to the Bellator cage to face Cliff Wright Jr. With all eight of his professional victorious coming by submission, Wright will look to his ground game to take down Burley who holds an undefeated professional record.
Looking to make his mark in the Bellator cage, Matt Uhde will fight Houston Alexander on April 18th. With 25 professional fights under his belt, Alexander has 10 wins by KO and will rely on his powerful punching to stop Uhde.
Returning to the cage after nearly two years, Martin Brown will meet Jared Downing under the bright lights. No stranger to the Bellator cage, Downing is ready to put his skills to the test against Brown who has won three of his previous four fights.
Combining for 78 professional fights, Victor Moreno will fight Anthony Smith in a middleweight battle. No stranger to MMA, Moreno has 27 wins by KO or submission and is ready to put on an explosive and exciting fight in front of his home state crowd.
MAIN CARD:
Welterweight World Title Fight: Douglas “The Phenom” Lima (25-5) vs. Rick “Gengis” Hawn (18-2)
Bellator Lightweight Semifinal: Patricky Pitbull (12-5) vs. Derek Campos (14-3)
Bellator Lightweight Semifinal: Derek Anderson (11-0) vs. Marcin Held (17-3)
Welterweight Feature Fight: Karl Amoussou (16-6) vs. TBA
PRELIMINARY CARD:
Lightweight Feature Fight: Jordan Parsons (9-1) vs. Tim Bazer (14-15)
Featherweight Feature Fight: Josh Arocho (13-12) Julio Cesar Neves (28-0)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Victor Morena (32-18) vs. Anthony Smith (17-11)
Middleweight Feature Fight: Ben Crowder (10-11) vs. Joe Vedepo (14-8)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Larue Burley (3-0) vs. Cliff Wright Jr. (8-5)
Lightweight Feature Fight: Martin Trey Brown (6-2) vs. Jared Downing (9-4)
Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Matt Uhde (3-4) vs. Houston Alexander (15-10)
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/BellatorMMA
About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 140 countries, Bellator’s majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. With over 175 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport’s top mixed martial artists. Bellator’s founder & CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator’s core philosophy is that title shots should be earned, not given. This belief gave rise to Bellator’s real sport, tournament-based format, which gives Bellator’s tournaments a true playoff feel that keeps the sport true and distances itself from the subjective side of fighting sports found in organizations that utilize a matchmaking/casting formula. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Newport Beach, California.
About Spike TV:
Spike TV is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Anthony Mazzuca
(949) 222-3400
Anthony@Bellator.com
David Schwarz
(212)767-8639
David.Schwarz@MTVStaff.com