Bellator inks former Olympic hopeful Shawn Bunch

Bellator has inked prospect Shawn Bunch to its bantamweight roster, officials today announced.

Bunch enters Bellator with no amateur or professional MMA fights, but he has an extensive amateur-wrestling background.

The 5-foot-5 Bunch, who's currently training with American Kickboxing Academy, was a four-time NCAA Division I national qualifier who also was a national runner-up in 2005.

At Edinboro University, where UFC veteran Josh Koscheck also wrestled, Bunch posted a 132-24 career record.

The 29-year-old, who recently fell a win short of qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team with a loss to Coleman Scott, is expected to make his Bellator debut this fall in a non-tournament fight.

"For MMA fans that aren't familiar with me, get ready," Bunch stated. "I bring an incredibly fast and explosive game to the table, and I'm just ready to start this new chapter in my life. I can't wait to get into the cage and get it going."

Bunch has received rave reviews from former training partners and current Bellator fighters Ben Askren and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal.

"The best way to describe Shawn is just explosive and dynamic," Askren stated. "I've traveled the world with Shawn competing together in wrestling competitions, and know what kind of competitor he is. He'll make an incredible addition to the Bellator family, and I'm excited to see what he brings to the cage."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29240/bellator-inks-former-olympic-hopeful-shawn-bunch.mma

Nice signing. Hopefully they groom this kid properly. It might be a little early for him to sign with a major promotion, but I'm sure Rebney will know he has a potential talent here and won't do anything drastic.

Bellator has been making serious moves.

Spike is going to potentially make for a major platform for them.

Zuffa is not in a position to buy them out, either. Not only because of Zuffa's woes recently, but probably more presciently because it would be quite difficult for Zuffa to integrate Bellator into their umbrella.

Never say never of course, but I just don't see it happening under the current landscape.

And I'm also very partial to heavyweights so I like their moves in this division a lot.

Bellator isn't perfect, but they are quickly becoming my favorite North American promotion, especially with all the talent they've been signing. And tournaments are always very exciting.

This is why Bellator is my favourite promotion at the moment, they seem to be going for young talented fighters over the more expensive ex UFC fighters who are past their prime. I know they have signed people like Daley, Saunders and Rogers but those three bring exciting fights and in Rogers a named fighter to boost the status of their up and coming stars.

It will be interesting to see if Bunch can emulate former inexperienced tournament winners like Chandler and Konrad. Hopefully they will give him a few prelim fights first.

BluebirdMMA wrote:This is why Bellator is my favourite promotion at the moment, they seem to be going for young talented fighters over the more expensive ex UFC fighters who are past their prime. I know they have signed people like Daley, Saunders and Rogers but those three bring exciting fights and in Rogers a named fighter to boost the status of their up and coming stars.

It will be interesting to see if Bunch can emulate former inexperienced tournament winners like Chandler and Konrad. Hopefully they will give him a few prelim fights first.

They put Cosmo Alexandre in the prelims when he first started, so I think they'll be smart enough to do the same with Bunch.

Sonatine wrote:

BluebirdMMA wrote:This is why Bellator is my favourite promotion at the moment, they seem to be going for young talented fighters over the more expensive ex UFC fighters who are past their prime. I know they have signed people like Daley, Saunders and Rogers but those three bring exciting fights and in Rogers a named fighter to boost the status of their up and coming stars.

It will be interesting to see if Bunch can emulate former inexperienced tournament winners like Chandler and Konrad. Hopefully they will give him a few prelim fights first.

They put Cosmo Alexandre in the prelims when he first started, so I think they'll be smart enough to do the same with Bunch.

Rebney runs Bellator well so I would be shocked if he did throw him in the deep end.

Just found some mitt work videos from what I believe is his youtube channel. They're about 2 years old.