Bellator Adds Top Featherweight Daniel Weichel To Loaded Division

Newport Beach, CA. (September 11^th, 2013) – In a division currently featuring Bellator Champion Pat Curran, Daniel Straus, Patricio Pitbull, Diego Nunes, and Frodo Khasbulaev, the featherweight ranks in Bellator just got deeper with the addition of German powerhouse Daniel Weichel. Only 28, the 31-8 submission ace becomes an instant threat within the division, and has his sights set on the next Bellator Featherweight Tournament.

“It´s like a dream come true fighting for Bellator MMA,” Weichel said. “I can´t wait to enter the cage and begin the toughest tournament out there. Fighting in the US and live on Spike TV is a thrill; so I will go out there to make my team at MMA Spirit and the greatest fans in the world as proud. I always wanted to compete with the best fighters and I can do just that at Bellator. My hard work has paid off and you will get to see another beast at featherweight, I can promise that.”

Already a fan favorite in Europe, the former lightweight standout is ready to make his presence felt stateside, and continue his winning ways inside the Bellator cage. After moving from welterweight to lightweight in 2009, Weichel has gone 13-2, including victories over Khasbulaev, Georgi Stoyanov, and Jose Figueroa.

“Since our inception, we’ve strived to bring in the best talent from around the world, and Daniel certainly fits that bill,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “We’ve had our eye on Daniel for quite some time so we’re all excited to get Daniel into our next Featherweight Tournament.”

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 135 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.

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.

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.