Louisiana hosts Bellator 61, heavyweight finale rematch, middleweight tourney ki

Bellator Fighting Championships' sixth season is rapidly approaching, and the company is starting to lay out some of the details.

Bellator officials today announced that the second event of the season, Bellator 61, will take place on March 16 at the Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, La.

The event sees a rematch between season-five heavyweight tournament finalists Eric Prindle (7-1 MMA, 3-0 BFC) and Thiago Santos (10-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC), as well as the four opening-round contests in the promotion's season-six middleweight tournament.

"Louisiana's been an amazing home to Bellator," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney stated. "Our last two Louisiana events were spectacular sell-outs, so bringing Bellator to Bossier City was an easy decision to make. This Prindle-Santos fight has war written all over it, and both of these guys have taken this huge fight very personally. March 16 should be a great night."

As with all of Bellator's season-six events, Bellator 61 airs on MTV2 and Spike.com.

Prindle and Santos, of course, met in the finals of Bellator's season-five heavyweight tourney, but the bout was ruled a no-contest when Santos inexplicably kicked a downed Prindle in the groin. "Big Monster" contended he was targeting Prindle's backside, but his opponent could not continue after the blow.

The winner of the fight faces Bellator heavyweight champ Cole Konrad later this year.

Meanwhile, Bellator's season-six middleweight tourney kicks off at the event with Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy, Brian Rogers vs. Vitor Vianna, Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O'Donnell and Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos.

Falcao (28-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC), 30, went 1-0 in the UFC with a decision victory over Gerald Harris at UFC 123 but was released as the result of a nine-year-old assault charge in his home country of Brazil. Back to fighting, he enters Bellator on a 10-1 run that includes nine stoppages. In fact, in 28 career wins, he owns 26 stoppages (16 in the first round).

Paraisy's lone career loss actually came under the Bellator banner in an April 2009 bout with Dave Menne. Shortly after the loss to Menne, Paraisy (10-1-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) earned a spot on "The Ultimate Fighter 11" but was eliminated in the entry round when he could not answer the bell for the second round of a matchup with James Hammortree. Since that loss, Paraisy has fought across the globe – including bouts in Brazil, England, France, Scotland and Switzerland – racking up a 5-0-1 record in six total outings.

Rogers (8-3 MMA, 1-1 BFC), 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.

Vianna (12-2-1 MMA, 2-1 BFC) returns to the promotion after making a run to the finals in Bellator's season-five tourney. The Wand Fight Team rpudct knocked off Bryan Baker and Sam Alvey before falling short in a decision against Shlemenko.

The 23-year-old Vasilevsky (15-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC), 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.

O'Donnell (11-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC) takes a second shot at tournament success after losing to Rogers via first-round TKO at this past September's Bellator 50 event. The appearance was O'Donnell's first under the Bellator banner.

Santana (17-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC), "The Arm Collector," 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 Jaime Jara in 2008, once won 10 straight fights via his preferred submission method.

Santos (12-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) joins Bellator following a four-year run on Brazil's regional circuit. There, he's posted an undefeated record, though his past nine wins have come via decision. The 24-year-old, who trains with Ze Mario Team in Brazil, is primarily a ground fighter with a stifling top game and developing striking skills.

Bellator is doing great things. I heard that they are also trying to get lincese in Vegas. Bellator with the help of their new owner is a force to be reconed with. The fantastic thing is that they also allow most of its fighters to fight in other areas.

Bellator is on the rise.

and thats a great thing