Brian Rogers joins Bellator's season-six middleweight tourney

Brian Rogers (8-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC) is the first entrant in Bellator's upcoming season-six middleweight tournament.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the onetime Strikeforce fighter's involvement with a source to the promotion.

The eight-man tournament kicks off in March and airs on MTV2.

Rogers, a 27-year-old Ohioan, also competed in Bellator's season-five tournament and scored a vicious first-round knockout win (due to a head kick and punches) over Victor O'Donnell in the tournament's opening round. However, he then suffered a TKO loss to eventual tourney champion Alexander Shlemenko in the semifinals.

The TKO loss marked the first time Rogers was stopped in a pro fight. It also snapped his impressive seven-fight win streak that included seven knockout wins.

In addition to the middleweight tournament, Bellator is hosting season-six tourneys in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.

Rogers, a special-education teacher and former collegiate football player, made his pro debut IN 2008 and lost two of his first three fights before the seven-fight win streak.

YES

Hope Bret follows him

Falcao Confirmed for Bellator Season 6 Middleweight Tournament

Onetime UFC talent Maiquel Falcao will make his stateside return this spring when he takes part in Bellator Fighting Championships’ sixth-season middleweight tournament.

Event sources Wednesday confirmed to Sherdog.com that Falcao, who signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator last October, will be one in the eight-man tourney at 185 pounds. The only other participant thus far confirmed for the middleweight bracket is Season 5 semifinalist Brian Rogers, but familiar faces such as Brett Cooper and Vitor Vianna are also rumored to return, along with newcomers like Vyacheslav Vasilevsky and Giva Santana.

Airing live Friday nights on MTV2, Bellator’s sixth season is expected to kick off March 2 at a location to be announced. No start date has been announced for the middleweight tournament.

Falcao, 30, is best known for a one-and-done UFC stint which saw him outpoint Gerald Harris in a controversial November 2010 decision. Subsequently scheduled for and pulled from multiple bouts, the Chute Boxe representative was ultimately released by the promotion last May due to circumstances stemming from a 2002 assault charge in his homeland.

The Brazilian slugger has gone 2-1 with a pair of first-round knockouts since his Octagon ouster, but scarier than that loss was the turn his story took in late November. On Nov. 20, Falcao was hospitalized in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, after suffering an apparent heart attack. However, the fighter later denied the diagnosis.

“I’ve had some health problems caused by excessive training,” he wrote on Facebook. “This generated several rumors, but none of them is true. What actually happened was too much training, not enough rest.”

Falcao’s Bellator debut will mark his first action since Oct. 8, when he recorded a 75-second stoppage of Douglas del Rio at a local Brazilian event.

Giva 'The Arm Collector' Santana joins Bellator's season-six middleweight tourney

"The Arm Collector" is joining his first Bellator tournament.

Bellator officials today announced that Giva Santana (17-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) has joined the eight-man field for the organization's season-six middleweight tourney.

The tourney kicks off in March on MTV2.

Santana is the second confirmed participant for the field. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, knockout artist Brian Rogers (8-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC) also is slated for the field.

Additional tourney participants will be announced in the coming weeks.

Santana, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and former EliteXC fighter, made his promotional debut at Bellator 53 and submitted Darryl Cobb with – what else? – an armbar. He now owns 15 submissions in 17 career wins, and 13 have come via armbar. In fact, Santana, whose only career loss came via split decision Jamie Jara in 2008, once won 10 straight fights via his preferred submission method.

Prior to joining Bellator, Santana strung together victories over the likes of Lodune Sincaid, former Strikeforce title challenger Anthony Ruiz, and ex-WEC champ Doug Marshall.

In addition to the middleweight tournament, Bellator is hosting season-six tourneys in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.

Victor O’Donnell slotted for Bellator's season-six middleweight tournament

Ohio fighter Victor O’Donnell has joined his second Bellator tournament.

Bellator officials today announced that O’Donnell (11-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC), who had a brief appearance in a season-five tournament, has joined the eight-man field for the organization's season-six middleweight tourney.

The tourney kicks off in March on MTV2.

O'Donnell is the third confirmed participant for the field. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, knockout artist Brian Rogers (8-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC) also is slated for the field, as is Giva "The Arm Collector" Santana (17-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC).

Additional tourney participants will be announced in the coming weeks.

O’Donnell's lone Bellator performance came this past year at Bellator 50, where he suffered a TKO loss to fellow Ohio fighter Brian Rogers in an opening-round tourney bout. It was the first time O'Donnell had ever been stopped during his four-year pro career.

Prior to joining the tournament, the well-rounded O'Donnell, who had a brief stint on "The Ultimate Fighter 11," was on a 4-1 run. Eight of his 10 career wins have come via submission, and he holds wins over notables such as Rafael Natal, Forrest Petz and Isaiah Larson.

In addition to the middleweight tournament, Bellator is hosting season-six tourneys in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.

Some scary new people in Bellator. The Arm Collector is a legend and Falcon gives me the creeps. Maybe they should've kicked off the tourney on Halloween.

Vyacheslav Vasilevsky joins Bellator's season-six middleweight tourney

Native Russian and former M-1 light-heavyweight champ Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (15-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) is the latest addition to Bellator's season-six middleweight tournament.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed his participation with sources close to the fighter.

The season-six eight-man middleweight tourney kicks off in March on MTV2.

Vasilevsky joins Bruno Santos (12-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC), Maiquel Falcao (28-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC), Victor O’Donnell (11-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC), Brian Rogers (8-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC) and Giva "The Arm Collector" Santana (17-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) as confirmed participants.

Additional tourney participants will be announced in the coming days.

The 23-year-old Vasilevsky, who now lives in Fairfield, N.J., and fights out of K-Dojo, has been defeated just once in his career and enjoys a 14-fight win streak that extends over three years. He defeated Tomasz Narkun via TKO in December 2010 to take the M-1 Global light-heavyweight title, and he also holds a notable career victory over UFC vet Xavier Foupa-Pokam.

"I felt like I've conquered the Russian scene, and I'm ready to compete against some of the best in the world with Bellator," he recently stated. "They have some great middleweights, and I want to test my skills against them as soon as I can."

In addition to the middleweight tournament, Bellator is hosting season-six tourneys in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.