2011 in Bellator MMA

2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Featherweight. There was also an inaugural Light Heavyweight Tournament taking place during this season, which crowned the first Light Heavyweight Champion in Bellator. This was the first season to air on MTV2.

Bellator 35
Bellator 35 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 5, 2011 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. The card kicked off Bellator Season Four and featured opening round fights in the Season Four Welterweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
On December 14, 2010, Bellator and MTV2 announced a three-year deal to broadcast Bellator's tournaments and special events. This will be the first Bellator event to air on MTV2.

Bellator's Women's Strawweight Champion Zoila Frausto fought in a non-title catchweight bout against Karina Hallinan.

At this event Steve Carl was expected to fight Jay Hieron in the opening round of the welterweight tournament. However, Carl injured himself during training and was removed from the tournament. His replacement was Anthony Lapsley.

Poppies Martinez was expected to fight at this event, but a bout never materialized.

The event drew an average of around 200,000 viewers on MTV2. Which helped MTV2 in several key advertising demographics including, an 83 percent increase among men aged 18 to 49, an 80 percent increase among men 18 to 34, and a 133 percent increase among men aged 25 to 34.

Bellator 36
Bellator 36 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 12, 2011, at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The card featured opening-round fights in the Bellator Season Four Lightweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Toby Imada was originally scheduled to face French fighter Ferrid Kheder; however, Kheder refused to weigh in and Josh Shockley was moved up from the preliminary card to face Imada.

Shockley's original opponent, Kelvin Hackney, still weighed in, but was pulled off the card and paid his show money and win bonus. Hackney was expected to fight at Bellator 45.

The event drew an estimated 230,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 37
Bellator 37 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 19, 2011 at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, Oklahoma. The card featured opening round fights in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. The event drew an estimated 173,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 38
Bellator 38 was mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 26, 2011 at Harrah's Tunica Hotel and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The card featured the opening round fights in the Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event showcased the inaugural light heavyweight tournament.

Originally, Blagoy Ivanov was set to fight John Brown on the undercard. However, Brown pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Johnathan Ivey. Ivey was then pulled off the card for a suspension by the Georgia Athletic Commission. Ivanov instead fought William Penn.

The event drew an estimated 150,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 39
Bellator 39 was a mixed martial arts held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on April 2, 2011 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The card featured one semi-final fight in both the Bellator Season Four Welterweight and Lightweight Tournaments. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
The lightweight semifinal bout between Toby Imada and Patricky Freire was originally set to take place at Bellator 40.

In a last-minute change not announced by the promotion, Luiz Azeredo stepped in to replace Matt Veach in a preliminary card matchup.

The event drew an estimated 174,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 40
Bellator 40 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on April 9, 2011 at First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The card featured fights in the Welterweight and Lightweight Bellator Season Four Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren competed in a non-title bout against Nick Thompson at this event.

A lightweight semifinal bout between Toby Imada and Patricky Freire was originally set to take place on this card. However, the fight was moved to Bellator 39 and replaced with the welterweight semifinal fight between Brent Weedman and Jay Hieron. The Hieron-Weedman fight was rescheduled because Weedman needed to receive clearance for a facial laceration suffered in his Bellator 35 victory over Dan Hornbuckle.

Former Sengoku fighter Ronnie Mann was expected to make his Bellator debut at this event. However, visa issues kept Mann from entering the United States and his fight has been pushed back to the Bellator 42 card.

The event drew an estimated 218,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 41
Bellator 41 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships on April 16, 2011 at Cocopah Resort and Casino in Yuma, Arizona. The card featured two semi-final fights in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Tony Johnson was expected to fight Carlos Flores at the event, but for unknown reasons was replaced by Rudy Aguilar.

The event drew a season low of 132,000 average viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 42
Bellator 42 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on April 23, 2011 at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, Oklahoma. The card featured the semi-finals in the Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Bellator Heavyweight champion Cole Konrad was scheduled to compete in a non-title "super fight" bout against Paul Buentello at this event. However, it was revealed that Buentello had to pull out of the bout due to a back injury.

Former Sengoku fighter Ronnie Mann was expected to make his Bellator debut at Bellator 40. However, visa issues kept Mann from entering the United States and the fight was moved to this card.

Chris Guillen was originally set to fight Mark Holata, but Guillen suffered a last minute injury and was replaced by Tracy Willis.

The event drew an estimated 199,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 43
Bellator 43 was a mixed martial arts held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on May 7, 2011 at the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The card featured the final fight in the Bellator Season Four Welterweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
A heavyweight bout between Neil Grove and The Ultimate Fighter 10 alumnus, Zak Jensen was scheduled for this event; however, Grove pulled out of the bout on May 3 due to an injury.

A local feature bout between George Burton and John Bryant was also scratched.

The event drew an estimated 182,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 44
Bellator 44 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on May 14, 2011, at Harrah's Resort. The card featured the final fight in the Bellator Season Four Lightweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
EliteXC and Ring of Combat veteran James Jones was expected to fight at this event, but a bout did not materialize.

Lyman Good was scheduled to face Dan Hornbuckle in a welterweight bout. However, on May 6, Good pulled out of the fight due to an injury.

A scheduled bout between Anthony Morrison and Bryan Goldsby was canceled due to Morrison weighing-in 10 pounds over weight.

The event drew a season high of 325,000 average viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 45
Bellator 45 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on May 21, 2011 at the L'Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The card featured final round fights in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight and Light Heavyweight Tournaments. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Kalvin Hackney, whose fight was canceled at Bellator 36, was moved to fight at this event.

A bout between Thiago Santos and Derrick Lewis was scrapped after Santos suffered an injury.

The event drew an estimated 264,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 46
Bellator 46 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on June 25, 2011 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The card was part of Bellator's inaugural Summer Series and featured opening round fights in the Summer Series Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the first round of an eight-man featherweight tournament to be held over the Summer Series.

David Baggett missed the middleweight limit allowance of 186 for non-title fights, weighing in at 191.5 lb, and his bout with Moyses Gabin was scrapped from the card.

The event drew an estimated 185,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 47
Bellator 47 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on July 23, 2011 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. The card featured semi-final fights in the Bellator 2011 Summer Series Featherweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event was to feature Joe Warren's first defense of his featherweight title against season four tournament winner Patricio Freire. Freire, however, pulled out of the fight in early July due to a broken hand.

This was Bellator's first event in Canada. Bellator 4 was set to take place in Canada, but was moved due to the promotion unable to come to terms with the Quebec Boxing Commission.

Ben Saunders was expected to fight at this event, but had to pull out due to an undisclosed injury he suffered in training.

Bantamweights Bo Harris and Bryan Goldsby were originally announced to be facing each other, but the bout did not materialize in the days leading up to the event as Harris failed to complete his medical requirements in a timely fashion.

The event drew an estimated 277,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 48
Bellator 48 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on August 20, 2011 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The card was part of Bellator's inaugural Summer Series and featured the final round fights in the Summer Series Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the final round of an eight-man featherweight tournament that was held over the Summer Series.

John Clarke was expected to face Dan Cramer, but an injury forced Clarke out of the bout. Jeff "The Wolfman" Nader stepped in as Clarke's replacement.

The event drew an estimated 226,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 49
Bellator 49 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 10, 2011 at Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The card was the debut of the promotion's fifth season and distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the first round of an eight-man welterweight tournament to be held over the duration of Bellator's fifth season.

Rick Hawn was expected to face Ben Saunders at this event but Hawn was forced out of the bout due to a knee injury. Hawn was replaced by Bellator newcomer Chris Cisneros.

The Ultimate Fighter 12 competitor, Andy Main, was set to fight Kenny Foster on the undercard of this event. However, after an undisclosed injury, Main was pulled from the bout.

On September 6, 2011, it was announced Bellator's Season 5 "Local Feature Fights" would be streamed live on Spike.com, starting with this event.

The event drew an estimated 235,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 50
Bellator 50 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 17, 2011 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
The event hosted the opening round of the middleweight tournament in Bellator's fifth season.

Veteran welterweight fighter Ailton Barbosa won Bellator's open tryouts in Hollywood, Florida in June 2011 to earn his spot on the card.

R.J. Goodridge was scheduled to fight J. P. Reese, but after suffering an undisclosed injury Goodridge pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Martin Brown. Also, Ryan Hodge was scheduled to fight Valdir Araujo, but was pulled from the bout with an injury, and replaced with Brett Cooper.

On September 15, 2011, Luis Palomino suffered an injury in training and was pulled from his scheduled bout with James Edson Berto. Berto was later pulled from the card as well, and the fight was scratched altogether; The two then met at W-1: Reloaded in which Palomino defeated Berto.

A scheduled lightweight bout between Dietter Navarro and Marcelo Goncalves was changed into a 156 lb catchweight bout after both fighters missed weight.

The event drew an estimated 114,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 51
Bellator 51 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 24, 2011 at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the first round of an eight-man bantamweight tournament to be held over the course of Bellator's fifth season.

Joe Soto was originally scheduled to face Eduardo Dantas in the opening round of the bantamweight-tournament. However, he was pulled from the bout after losing to Eddie Yagin at Tachi Palace Fights 10 and replaced by Wilson Reis.

The Jessica Eye-Casey Noland bout was changed from 125 lb to a 127 lb catchweight after Noland failed to make weight. /

The event drew an estimated 158,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 52
Bellator 52 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. It took place on October 1, 2011 at the L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Louisiana. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the opening round of Bellator's second heavyweight tournament.

Blagoy Ivanov was originally scheduled to face Thiago Santos. Santos, however, was unable to travel from Brazil for the event and was replaced by Zak Jensen.

The event drew an estimated 269,000 viewers on MTV 2.

Bellator 53
Bellator 53 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on October 8, 2011 at the Buffalo Run Hotel & Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the second round of the Bellator Season 5 Welterweight Tournament.

The event drew an estimated 103,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 54
Bellator 54 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on October 15, 2011 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Bellator bantamweight champion, Zach Makovsky, competed in a non-title bout at this event. He faced one-time UFC competitor Ryan Roberts.

This event hosted the second round of the Bellator Season 5 Middleweight Tournament.

Eddie Alvarez was scheduled to make his second title defense of his lightweight championship against Michael Chandler on this card; however, on September 20, it was announced that Alvarez suffered an injury and the match has been pushed back to Bellator 58.

Karl Amoussou was expected to make his welterweight debut at this event against Joey Kirwan. However, for unknown reasons, Amoussou was pulled from the bout and replaced by Lewis Rumsy.

Bellator 55
Bellator 55 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships on October 22, 2011 at Cocopah Resort and Casino in Somerton, Arizona. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the second round of Bellator's Season Five Bantamweight Tournament.

Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Christian M'Pumbu fought Travis Wiuff in a non-title bout. M'Pumbu become the first Bellator champion to lose in a non-title bout.

Despite a close split decision loss, main eventer Marcos Galvão was awarded a "win" bonus.

The event earned an average of 168,000 viewers on MTV2.

Bellator 56
Bellator 56 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. It took place on October 29, 2011 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the second round of Bellator's second heavyweight tournament.

Mike Hayes was expected to face Blagoi Ivanov at this event, However Hayes was issued a 60-day medical suspension by the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission due to a fractured orbital bone sustained during his fight with Neil Grove at Bellator 52. Thiago Santos stepped in for the injured Hayes. Ivanov subsequently had to pull out of the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Neil Grove.

Bellator 57
Bellator 57 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. It took place on November 12, 2011 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. The event was distributed live in primetime by MTV2.

Background
This was the second time that Bellator has come to Canada. Previously, Bellator 47 was also held in Rama, Ontario.

This event hosted the final rounds of Bellator's Season Five Welterweight Tournament and Bellator's Season Five Middleweight Tournament.

Bellator's Women's champion, Zoila Gurgel, was scheduled to compete in a non-title bout against Carina Damm. However, an injury forced her off the card.

Bellator 58
Bellator 58 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. It took place on November 19, 2011 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
Shooto's 183-pound South American champion, Carlos Alexandre Pereira, was expected to make his Bellator debut at this event.

Bellator Middleweight champion, Hector Lombard, was expected to compete in non-title, light heavyweight fight against UFC and Strikeforce veteran, Renato Sobral, at this event. However, for unknown reasons, Sobral was replaced by Trevor Prangley.

The event drew a season high 269,000 viewers with the immediate repeat also drawing 160,000 viewers.

Bellator 59
Bellator 59 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. It took place on November 26, 2011 at Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.

Background
This event hosted the final round of Bellator's Season Five Bantamweight Tournament as well as the Bellator's Season Five Heavyweight Tournament.

Michael Costa pulled out of his fight with Lyman Good due to an injury, which led the organization to scrap Good from the event all together. The lightweight bout between Phillipe Nover and Marcin Held was promoted to the main card.

The final of the Heavyweight tournament was ruled a No Contest after an accidental groin kick by Thiago Santos rendered Eric Prindle unable to continue. Following the event Santos failed to make weight for a scheduled rematch causing the bout to be cancelled, and Prindle to be awarded the tournament win by default.