USA TODAY: Bellator set for seventh season, last before move to Spike TV

promotion returns to MTV2 tonight in Atlantic City, N.J., with the sold-out Bellator 74 (8 p.m. ET). The seventh season, which includes a three-month run of weekly events, features eight-man tournaments in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and heavyweight divisions. Up for grabs is $100,000 in winnings and guaranteed title shots.

This season brings an influx of Russian talent thanks to Bellator's continued international expansion. Russian fighters Andrey Koreshkov (who's part of the welterweight tourney that kicks off tonight) and Alexander Sarnavskiy boast undefeated records and train with two-time Bellator tourney champ Alexander Shlemenko, who is also Russian. Both fighters have been featured prominently by state-run Russia 2, a new broadcast partner that helps put Bellator programming in 87 countries.

"Russia is going to be the new Brazil for Bellator," said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, comparing Russia to its fight-crazed and lucrative counterpart.

Despite some active competition – some would say skirmishing – for talent with industry leader UFC and the upstart World Series of Fighting, Rebney said the pool of available fighters for Season 7 remains deep.

"I think part of that is because Bellator has gotten bigger, and the Spike TV alliance and the Viacom acquisition have opened up a lot of doors with us," he said. "With the demise of the WECs and Afflictions (now-defunct MMA promotions), and with all the troubles that Strikeforce is having, there are less and less alternatives. Now there are only two. There's still a huge number of world-class fighters around the world who are looking for a place with huge television alliances to ply their trade."

In anticipation of the Spike TV move, Bellator fans can expect new things this season as the organization looks to become its own production studio. In July Bellator moved its headquarters from Chicago to Irvine, Calif., and began building editing and sound rooms that will produce content for live events. Spike TV also has ordered additional shoulder programming for 2013 as part of Bellator's arrival.

A revamp of the show's broadcast package also is underway. Season 8 will kick off with a new theme song and snappier graphics, but immediately with Friday's Season 7 event, fans should notice a difference in the quality of behind-the-scenes fighter features.

"Those are going to be taken to the next level," Rebney said.

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