"Bellator: Brooks vs. Jansen" adds five new contests, including Marcin Held vs. "Tiger" Sarnavskiy, Joey Beltran vs. Brian Rogers and more
Mar 11, 2015 Comments
(PRESS RELEASE) -- SANTA MONICA, Calif. (March 5, 2015) - The
action-packed lineup for "Bellator MMA: Brooks vs. Jansen"
continues to fill, and the latest round of additions includes a key
lightweight matchup between two international contenders with a
combined 50 career victories, as well as four intriguing
preliminary contests.
The new matchups include a main-card lightweight contest of Marcin Held (20-3) vs. Alexander Sarnavskiy (30-2), as well as preliminary bouts of bantamweights Jared Papazian (18-11) vs. Raja Shippen (14-9-1), middleweights Joey Beltran (15-11) vs. Brian Rogers (11-7), lightweights Saad Awad (17-6) vs. Rob Sinclair (12-2) and flyweights Jonathan Santa Maria (3-0) vs. Steve Ramirez (0-1).
"Bellator: Brooks vs. Jansen" takes place on Friday, April 10, at
Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. The night's televised main
card, featuring Bellator MMA Lightweight World Champion Will Brooks
vs. top contender Dave Jansen,
airs live on Spike TV (9 p.m. ET), while preliminary bouts stream
live on Spike.com (7 p.m. ET).
Tickets for "Bellator: Brooks vs. Jansen," which start at just $38, are already on sale at Bellator.com and Bren.UCI.edu
The 26-year-old Sarnavskiy, from Omsk, Russia, has an equally impressive record and has earned the rank of Master of Sport in hand-to-hand combat. A seven-time Bellator MMA veteran, Sarnavskiy is currently enjoying a five-fight winning streak and is 10-1 in his past 11 appearances. In his 30 career victories, 25 have come by stoppage, including 18 submissions and seven knockouts.
Papazian, of West Hills, Calif., is a seven-year veteran of the sport who has been training in martial arts since he was just 6 years old. A former King of the Cage flyweight champion, Papazian is 3-1 in his past four outings. He faces Shippen, of Lake Forest, Calif. A Reign Training Center product, Shippen is 11-1 in his past 12 appearances and has earned 13 of his 14 career wins by stoppage, including five knockouts and eight submissions.
The hard-hitting Beltran, of San Diego, Calif., Beltran is a three-time Bellator MMA veteran and former light heavyweight who now makes his first appearance in the middleweight divisions. A slugger by trade, 11 of Beltran's 15 career wins have come by way of knockout. He now meets fellow knockout artist Rogers, of Denver, Colo. With nine Bellator MMA appearances to his name, Rogers also prefers to stand and bang and has earned nine of his 11 career wins with strikes.
Awad, of San Bernadino, Calif., is a Millennia MMA product who owns five wins under the Bellator MMA banner, four of which have come by stoppage. Fourteen of his 17 career wins have come by stoppage, including seven knockouts and seven submissions. He faces Sinclair, of Manchester, England, who is 8-1 in his past nine appearances. Ten of Sinclair's 12 career wins have come by way of finish, including nine knockouts, and he now makes his Bellator MMA debut.
Santa Maria, of Whittier, Calif., is a Reign Training Center fighter who made his professional debut in March 2014 and has already picked up three victories, including a November win under the Bellator MMA banner. He now faces Ramirez, of Corona, Calif., who suffered a split-decision loss in his professional debut and now hopes to earn his first official career victory.
Additional contests, including one more main-card matchup, will be announced shortly
"Bellator: Brooks vs. Jansen" - Friday, April 10, Bren Events Center, Irvine, Calif.
Main Card (9 p.m. ET)
Bellator Lightweight Title Fight: Champ Will Brooks (15-1) vs. Dave Jansen (20-2)
Bellator Middleweight Feature Fight: Rafael Carvalho (10-1) vs. Joe Schilling (2-3)
Bellator Lightweight Feature Fight: Marcin Held (20-3) vs. Alexander Sarnavskiy (30-2)
Preliminary Card (7 p.m. ET)
Bellator Bantamweight Prelim Fight: Jared Papazian (18-11) vs. Raja Shippen (14-9-1)
Bellator Middleweight Prelim Fight: Joey Beltran (15-11) vs. Brian Rogers (11-7)
Bellator Lightweight Prelim Fight: Saad Awad (17-6) vs. Rob Sinclair (12-2)
Bellator Flyweight Prelim Fight: Jonathan Santa Maria (3-0) vs. Steve Ramirez (0-1)
About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 400 million homes worldwide in over 120 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. 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 Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.
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.
The new matchups include a main-card lightweight contest of Marcin Held (20-3) vs. Alexander Sarnavskiy (30-2), as well as preliminary bouts of bantamweights Jared Papazian (18-11) vs. Raja Shippen (14-9-1), middleweights Joey Beltran (15-11) vs. Brian Rogers (11-7), lightweights Saad Awad (17-6) vs. Rob Sinclair (12-2) and flyweights Jonathan Santa Maria (3-0) vs. Steve Ramirez (0-1).
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Tickets for "Bellator: Brooks vs. Jansen," which start at just $38, are already on sale at Bellator.com and Bren.UCI.edu
The 23-year-old Held, a native of Tychy, Poland, is a Brazilian
jiu-jitsu black belt who boasts one of the most dangerous
submission games in the world. A former no-gi grappling world
champion, Held has been competing in mixed martial arts
professionally since 2008 and has earned 11 of his 20 career wins
by tapout. With just one loss in his past 11 appearances, Held owns
Bellator MMA wins over Patricky Pitbull, Nate Jolly,
Derek
Anderson, Rodrigo Cavalheiro, Ryan Healy,
Rich
Clementi, Murad
Machaev, Derrick
Kennington and Phillipe
Nover.
The 26-year-old Sarnavskiy, from Omsk, Russia, has an equally impressive record and has earned the rank of Master of Sport in hand-to-hand combat. A seven-time Bellator MMA veteran, Sarnavskiy is currently enjoying a five-fight winning streak and is 10-1 in his past 11 appearances. In his 30 career victories, 25 have come by stoppage, including 18 submissions and seven knockouts.
Papazian, of West Hills, Calif., is a seven-year veteran of the sport who has been training in martial arts since he was just 6 years old. A former King of the Cage flyweight champion, Papazian is 3-1 in his past four outings. He faces Shippen, of Lake Forest, Calif. A Reign Training Center product, Shippen is 11-1 in his past 12 appearances and has earned 13 of his 14 career wins by stoppage, including five knockouts and eight submissions.
The hard-hitting Beltran, of San Diego, Calif., Beltran is a three-time Bellator MMA veteran and former light heavyweight who now makes his first appearance in the middleweight divisions. A slugger by trade, 11 of Beltran's 15 career wins have come by way of knockout. He now meets fellow knockout artist Rogers, of Denver, Colo. With nine Bellator MMA appearances to his name, Rogers also prefers to stand and bang and has earned nine of his 11 career wins with strikes.
Awad, of San Bernadino, Calif., is a Millennia MMA product who owns five wins under the Bellator MMA banner, four of which have come by stoppage. Fourteen of his 17 career wins have come by stoppage, including seven knockouts and seven submissions. He faces Sinclair, of Manchester, England, who is 8-1 in his past nine appearances. Ten of Sinclair's 12 career wins have come by way of finish, including nine knockouts, and he now makes his Bellator MMA debut.
Santa Maria, of Whittier, Calif., is a Reign Training Center fighter who made his professional debut in March 2014 and has already picked up three victories, including a November win under the Bellator MMA banner. He now faces Ramirez, of Corona, Calif., who suffered a split-decision loss in his professional debut and now hopes to earn his first official career victory.
Additional contests, including one more main-card matchup, will be announced shortly
"Bellator: Brooks vs. Jansen" - Friday, April 10, Bren Events Center, Irvine, Calif.
Main Card (9 p.m. ET)
Bellator Lightweight Title Fight: Champ Will Brooks (15-1) vs. Dave Jansen (20-2)
Bellator Middleweight Feature Fight: Rafael Carvalho (10-1) vs. Joe Schilling (2-3)
Bellator Lightweight Feature Fight: Marcin Held (20-3) vs. Alexander Sarnavskiy (30-2)
Preliminary Card (7 p.m. ET)
Bellator Bantamweight Prelim Fight: Jared Papazian (18-11) vs. Raja Shippen (14-9-1)
Bellator Middleweight Prelim Fight: Joey Beltran (15-11) vs. Brian Rogers (11-7)
Bellator Lightweight Prelim Fight: Saad Awad (17-6) vs. Rob Sinclair (12-2)
Bellator Flyweight Prelim Fight: Jonathan Santa Maria (3-0) vs. Steve Ramirez (0-1)
About Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA is a leading Mixed Martial Arts organization featuring many of the best fighters in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator is available to nearly 400 million homes worldwide in over 120 countries. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. 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 Santa Monica, California and owned by entertainment giant Viacom, home to the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms.
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.
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