'Summer Series' kicks off June 22 with Bellator 71 in West Virginia

Bellator's three-event "Summer Series" kicks off June 22 with Bellator 71.

The event marks the organization's debut in West Virginia and takes place at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, which is located near the Ohio and Pennsylvania borders.

Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed the event with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) over the weekend.

Currently, no fights or tournaments have been announced for the "Summer Series," which is expected to feature three shows (one in June, one in July, and one in August). They take place before the start of a seventh season, which includes weekly shows beginning in late September or early October.

Bellator's current sixth season concludes May 25 with Bellator 70.

Bellator 71 will go head-to-head with UFC on FX 4, which takes place June 22 in Atlantic City, N.J., with a Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard headliner.

West Virginia officially adopted MMA legislation in early 2011. Bellator will become the first major MMA promotion to host an event in the state, which is the 37th most populous in the U.S.

As with its season-six events, Bellator 71 will feature a main card on MTV2 (and in high-definition on EPIX) with a preliminary card on Spike.com. All events move to Spike TV in 2013.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/28265/summer-series-kicks-off-june-22-with-bellator-71-in-west-virginia.mma

Awesome to see their Summer Series is already planned. I heard they will hold a LHW tournament throughout the summer including Wiuff, Vegh (if he wins Friday), Vantinnen (if he wins Friday), and some other solid 205ers. Looking forward to that. Winner will fight M'Pumbu next fall for the title. I wish they would run a HW tournament this summer as well.

They should hold LHW and HW tournaments in the summer and fall. Those are the two best divisions in the sport in my opinion and Bellator needs to improve these divisions and keep their champs active.

LHW tournament just announced:

http://www.bellator.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=205414895&DB_OEM_ID=23600

Awesome tournament with Vegh, Vanttinen, Wiuff, Hale, and Lins. Can't wait for this tournament. Vegh vs. Wiuff in the finals and Vegh takes it followed by taking M'Pumbu's belt.

Vegh might make it to the finals but it's not going to be easy you can't sleep on Lins, Vanttinen, hale and especially Hollett. I really don't see wiuff making it to the belt. He did be M'pumbu but it was not a impressive victory because he almost got finished. Obviously M'pumbu is looking for redemtion so I expect that he has been working on his cardio and, wrestling and ground game more.

i want to see M'pumbu at middleweight. anyways here's hoping that Bellator's LHWs and this summer tournament can bring some much needed action to their division.

ZuffaKiller wrote:Vegh might make it to the finals but it's not going to be easy you can't sleep on Lins, Vanttinen, hale and especially Hollett. I really don't see wiuff making it to the belt. He did be M'pumbu but it was not a impressive victory because he almost got finished. Obviously M'pumbu is looking for redemtion so I expect that he has been working on his cardio and, wrestling and ground game more.

I agree. This tournament is going to be tough for everyone. It should be sweet. I'm picking Vegh to win it but there is no guarantee having to go through this group.

AudaxPowder wrote:i want to see M'pumbu at middleweight. anyways here's hoping that Bellator's LHWs and this summer tournament can bring some much needed action to their division.

Absolutely. They needed to have this tournament bad. 205 is their most lacking division but now they stacked up a sweet tournament. I wouldn't mind seeing M'Pumbu drop to 185. He is so small for 205. I think the winner of this tournament takes his title.