Bellator Hosts 100th Event September 20th Live From Phoenix’s Grand Canyon University Arena

Newport Beach, CA. (August 22, 2013) – The Toughest Tournament in Sports continues from Phoenix’s Grand Canyon University Arena on Friday, September 20^th live on Spike. The long awaited Bellator MMA Welterweight Tournament Final between Ben Saunders and Douglas Lima will take place along with the opening rounds of the Fall Welterweight Tournament and a full card of Phoenix’s top-talent.

Tickets for the event can be purchased by visiting the Grand Canyon University Arena Box Office or www.GCUArena.com,with tickets starting at just $25. The event will be broadcast live starting at 6 p.m. PST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2.

After making his Bellator debut in July and defeating Mike Barreras with second round knockout, Bubba Jenkins will return to the cage and face LaRue Burley. A former NCAA wrestling champion and known for his dominating ground game, Jenkins holds a 4-0 professional record and has won three of his four fights by first round submission.

The night will also feature a battle between fan favorite Efrain Escudero and Zach Surdyka.  Although Surdyka has posted only one professional lost, he will have to hold off the seasoned Escudero, who has recorded 12 submission victories in his 19 professional wins.

The preliminary card will be streamed live and free on Spike.com starting at 4:30 p.m. PST.

The full fight card is listed below.

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Final: Ben Saunders (16-5) vs. Douglas Lima (24-5)

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Opening Round: Sergio Junior (29-11) vs. Matt Riddle (7-3)

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Opening Round: Mark Scanlon (9-2) vs. Herman Terrado (11-2)

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Opening Round: Justin Baesman (14-3) vs. Brent Weedman (21-8-1)

Bellator Welterweight Tournament Opening Round: Vaughn Anderson (16-1-1) vs. War Machine (13-4)

Featherweight Feature Fight:  LaRue Burley (2-0) vs. Bubba Jenkins (4-0)

Heavyweight Feature Fight: Dan Charles (6-0) vs. Mighty Mo (3-2)

Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Liam McGeary (4-0) vs. Beau Tribolet (7-2)

Light Heavyweight Feature Fight: Clifford Starks (8-2) vs. Joe Yager (5-2)

Welterweight Feature Fight: Johnny Buck (12-8) vs. Adam McDonough (8-0)

Bantamweight Feature Fight: Brandon Bender (11-0) vs. Travis Marx (20-4)

Lightweight Feature Fight: Zack Surdyka (5-1) vs. Efrain Escudero (19-7)

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           

Bellator MMA is the world’s largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 115 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 150 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.

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mun2 is the leading Hispanic cable network for young millennial adults 18-34.  From reality to music, on-air to digital, mun2 creates original content that resonates across a multi-screen platform.  Young, vibrant and unabashedly Latino, mun2 has a distribution to over 38 million households. The network is part of Telemundo Media, a division of NBCUniversal.