Bellator Fighting Championships announces signing of Jorge Masvidal

by Press Release on Jan 21, 2009 11:28 AM EST

Los Angeles, Calif. -- Bellator Fighting Championships, a first of its kind mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, officially announced today the exclusive signing of Jorge "Gamebred" Masvidal, one of Florida's top fighters.

As the latest addition to the lightweight (155 lb.) division of Bellator's tournament, premiering on ESPN Deportes April 4, 2009, Masvidal is poised for a breakout performance on the national MMA scene.

A Cuban-American and native of Miami, Florida, Masvidal has become known for routinely beating fighters that are larger and more well-known than he is. Wins over the likes of former IFL champion Ryan Schultz and UFC standout Joe Lauzon earned him the moniker of Florida's top Lightweight, a title that he solidified with an eight-bout win streak in the following months.

With an impressive record of 16-3, Masvidal continues to hone his skills at the illustrious American Top Team (ATT) in Miami, training daily with a collection of the world's top fighters.

"Jorge's world-class skills and ability to beat the best in his division on any given night may be a surprise to some MMA fans, but not to those of us who have seen him fight," said Bjorn Rebney, CEO of Bellator Fighting Championships. "Jorge is a great example of today's true world-class mixed martial arts fighter, possessing a complete set of skills across multiple disciplines; Jorge can beat you standing or on the ground and brings excitement to every fight he's in. He will be a major challenge to anyone in our 155 pound tournament."

Bellator Fighting Championships’ premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events to be broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights. The nationally televised events will feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There will be four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season #1 over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions.

Bellator’s interactive Web site, www.bellator.com, featuring event and fighter information, behind the scenes video footage, fight clips and live interaction with Bellator fighters will go live in late January 2009.

About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Bellator’s founders, Bjorn Rebney and Brad Epstein, are experienced sports and entertainment professionals with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production (including Rob Beiner, winner of 12 Emmy awards for sports programming), fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

i like what they are doing startin off small and working there way up unlike affliction who started off big and are almost certain to fall

by ufcaddict on Jan 21, 2009 11:40 AM EST reply actions

they seem to be off to a good start and i wouldn’t call it small although not as big as affliction they have signed alot of talent real fast and have not put on a show yet.i think they may be good but thats not enough for people here to watch.

by roy on Jan 21, 2009 11:57 AM EST up reply actions

Is Mania invested in Bellator? They’ve seemed to be pushing the story of Bellator pretty hard.. I’m all about it either way I’m just curious

by Sp00ner1234 on Jan 21, 2009 12:14 PM EST up reply actions

THey are putting together a solid line up!

by john on Jan 21, 2009 1:22 PM EST up reply actions

it’s called mma mania.. they bring us the latest on mma.. if you don’t like it, blog somewhere else.

this dude was a street fighter in the streets with kimbo, but he was smart and took the anti-Elite road to nowhere.
Bellator is gonna be bigger than Affliction when and if it goes a year.

by Mikeybear2009 on Jan 21, 2009 1:24 PM EST up reply actions

Everytime I heard of this guy I wondered if it was the same “Jorge” in a couple of fight vids with Klice.

Since I found out he is from Miami, I guess it probably was him

by fightfan on Jan 21, 2009 1:45 PM EST up reply actions

Jorge vs Alvarez in the finals. Everyone else is gonna be a scrub. Wilson Reis wins the other tourney. That’s what sucks about big fish in little ponds. Who knows though maybe a new kid will burst out of nowhere.

by NameNotRequired on Jan 21, 2009 7:09 PM EST up reply actions

ESPN Deportes isnt on Direct TV, I think. They should just put it on ESPN 2.

by El Mexicutioner, formerly The Mexicutioner on Jan 21, 2009 11:54 AM EST reply actions

I believe part of it is that their trying to appeal to latino audiences. Going for an untabbed well and all. I heard that if its successful on Deportes it’ll be put later on one of the other ESPN channels.

by evilstuntz on Jan 21, 2009 12:38 PM EST up reply actions

Anybody knoq what channal it will be on. I’d watch and kind of regret Elite went out of business. There are too many ppv events to buy. You can only watch live mma once a month now unless you want your mma bill to be larger than you cable bill.

by pug on Jan 21, 2009 1:22 PM EST reply actions

Hell if you want to watch all mma…..your cable bill(with mma included) is gonna be more than an average car payment. I pay around $100 for Cable and internet…..add a ppv per month and cable is AT LEAST $150 -per month…..

A month like January, you would have to spend 3 PPV. I never thought the day would come where cable would run more than a new car payment. I dont have a real nice ride, but it is an 08 and I pay just under $200/month

by fightfan on Jan 21, 2009 1:48 PM EST up reply actions