2010 in Bellator MMA was the second installment of the

Bellator Fighting Championships Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from '' bellātor'', the Latin word for "warrior". Bellato ...

(Bellator FC)-produced series. It started on April 8, 2010, and ended on June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

and

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

divisions. The winner of each tournament will get a shot at the current Bellator Champion in his respective weight class. Three of the four current Bellator Champions also fought during this season in "Super Fights". These non-tournament, non-title catch-weight fights were to help prepare the champions in defending their titles against the winners of this season's tournaments sometime in the third season.

Bellator 13

''Bellator 13'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, April 8, 2010, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

. Background The card featured two quarter-final bouts of the Featherweight and Lightweight tournaments Bellator is holding in its second season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

FOX Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

and its regional sports network affiliates. Janne Tulirinta was originally set to fight Carey Vanier, however, Tulirinta was forced out of the bout because of visa issues.

Joe Duarte Joe Duarte (born August 4, 1983) is a retired professional mixed martial arts champion and investor from Guam, and is of native Chamorro descent. Early life Duarte grew up in the village of Dededo, the largest and most densely populated villa ...

was his replacement. Results

Bellator 14

''Bellator 14'' was a

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, April 15, 2010, at the

Chicago Theatre The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark Theater (structure), theater located on North State Street (Chicago), State Street in the Loop, Chicago, Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 19 ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Background The card featured the quarter-final bouts in three of the four tournaments Bellator is holding in its second season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Originally, Imada was set to fight

Ferrid Kheder Ferrid Kheder (born 3 March 1975) is a French retired Olympic judoka who placed seventh at the Sydney Olympic Games and a former professional mixed martial artist who fought from 2004 to 2013. He holds the sixth Dan in IJF Judo and a BJJ blac ...

Bellator 15 2010 in Bellator MMA was the second installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started on April 8, 2010, and ended on June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight ...

but an injury forced Kheder out of the bout. James Krause was tapped as Kheder's replacement and the bout was moved to this event. To make room, a featherweight tournament bout between

Patricio Freire Patricio in Spanish, or Patrício in Portuguese, is a male given name equivalent to Patrick in English. The Spanish name is pronounced with the stress on the same first i as Portuguese, but an accent is not needed because this follows normal ru ...

and William Romero was moved to Bellator 15. A bout between Jonatas Novaes and

Daniel Mason-Straus Daniel Mason-Straus (born July 27, 1984), is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division. He previously competed in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Featherweight Champi ...

was canceled due to an undisclosed illness. Results

Bellator 15

''Bellator 15'' was a

event held by

. The event took take place on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is a village in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is located in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The card featured quarter-final bouts in the Welterweight and Featherweight tournaments Bellator is holding in its second season. Dan Hornbuckle was originally set to fight Sean Pierson, but a back injury forced Pierson out of the bout. Tyler Stinson was his replacement.

Jim Wallhead Jim Wallhead (born 14 March 1984) is an English former professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight division. He has competed for BAMMA, Bellator MMA, Bellator, and M-1 Challenge and ...

was forced out of his bout with Jacob McClintock due to air travel not being available in England. Ryan Thomas was Wallhead's replacement. Results

Bellator 16

''Bellator 16'' was a

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, April 29, 2010, in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The card featured the quarter-final bouts of the Middleweight Tournament Bellator is holding in its second season. Eric Schambari was originally set to fight Matt Major, but Major instead fought Alexander Shlemenko and Schambari fought Luke Zachrich. Rudy Bears was first set to fight Zak Cummings, however due to undisclosed reasons, Cummings pulled out of the fight and was replaced by Brent Weedman. Results

Bellator 17

''Bellator 17'' was a

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, May 6, 2010, at the Citi Performing Arts Center: Wang Theatre in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Results

Bellator 18

''Bellator 18'' was a

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, May 13, 2010, in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background This event featured two semi-final match ups from Bellator's season two tournament as well as four additional preliminary card fights featuring local fighters. Hector Lombard was scheduled to face former WEC Middleweight champion

Paulo Filho Paulo Filho (; born May 24, 1978), is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 until 2014, Filho was the last WEC Middleweight Champion, and also comp ...

in a non-title bout, but Filho pulled out of the bout and was replaced by

Jay Silva Jay Silva (born May 25, 1981) is an Angolan-born American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, Silva has also formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, the MFC, KSW, and T ...

. This marks the fourth bout Filho has pulled out of in two years. Results

Bellator 19

''Bellator 19'' was a

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, May 20, 2010, at Verizon Theater in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas, Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant, and Ellis County, Texas, Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson County, Texas , Johnson county. It ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Results

Bellator 20

''Bellator 20'' was a

event by

. The event took place on Thursday, May 27, 2010, at the

Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to: Australia * Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished *Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed by ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The bout between

Eddie Sanchez Eduardo Arturo Sanchez (born November 4, 1982) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional from 2004 to 2014, he competed for the UFC, Bellator, Titan FC, Final Fight Cham ...

and Wayne Cole was reported to be for a spot in Bellator's season three Heavyweight tournament. However, Cole pulled out of the fight and was replaced by Marcus Suers. Two of the match ups became

catchweight A catchweight is a term used in combat sports, such as boxing or mixed martial arts, to describe a weight limit that does not adhere to the traditional limits for weight classes. In boxing, a catchweight is negotiated prior to weigh-ins, which are ...

bouts after Brian Melancon and Andrew Chappelle failed to make weight. Results

Bellator 21

''Bellator 21'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, June 10, 2010, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The card featured the final tournament fight in the Lightweight division. The winner was crowned the

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

season 2 Lightweight winner and would face the current

Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez sometime during season 3. Results

Bellator 22

''Bellator 22'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, June 17, 2010, at Kansas City Power & Light District in

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The card featured the final tournament fight in the Welterweight division. The winner was crowned the

season 2 Welterweight winner and would face the current

Welterweight Champion Lyman Good sometime during season three. Results

Bellator 23

''Bellator 23'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, June 24, 2010, at Fourth Street Live! in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. The event was distributed live in primetime by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The card featured the final tournament fight in the Featherweight and Middleweight divisions. The winners were crowned the

Season 2 Featherweight and Middleweight winners and would face the current

Featherweight and Middleweight Champions, Joe Soto and Hector Lombard, respectively, sometime during season 3. Luke Zachrich was originally set to compete in a middleweight bout against Mike Fleniken. However, Zachrich was forced to pull out of the fight for an undisclosed reason. He was replaced by UFC veteran, Johnny Rees. However, Rees was then replaced by Stoney Hale. Kurt Kinser agreed to catchweight contest after Dave Overfield weighed-in well-over the 155-pound lightweight limit. Results

Tournaments

Middleweight Tournament bracket

Welterweight Tournament bracket

Lightweight Tournament bracket

Featherweight Tournament bracket

Bellator 24

''Bellator 24'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, August 12, 2010, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in

. The card began Bellator Season Three and featured the first round of the Bellator 115-pound women's tournament and an opening round fight in the Heavyweight tournament. Background Two bouts, Nico Parella vs. Efrain Ruiz and Frank Carrillo vs. Moyses Gabin, were scratched from the untelevised portion of this card. Parella pulled his groin and Gabin suffered a broken foot, which forced both off the card. Results

Bellator 25

''Bellator 25'' was a

event held by

. This event took place on August 19, 2010, at the

. The card featured tournament fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. In Japan, the event was distributed with a short delay by

Cavea The ''cavea'' (Latin language, Latin for "enclosure") are the seating sections of Theatre of ancient Greece, Greek and Roman theatre (structure), Roman theatres and Roman amphitheatre, amphitheatres. In Roman theatres, the ''cavea'' is tradition ...

. Background A lightweight bout featuring Mark Miller and Josh Shockley was set to happen at this event. But the week before the event, the bout was scratched when Miller suffered a rib injury in training. Results

Bellator 26

''Bellator 26'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, August 26, 2010, at Kansas City Power & Light District in

. The card featured tournament fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background

Rory Markham Rory Markham (born March 25, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist and actor who most recently acted alongside Will Smith playing Booker Grassie in the latest addition to the '' Bad Boys'' franchise ''Bad Boys for Life''. Formerly ...

was scheduled to fight Steve Carl, however Markham was not medically cleared. Tyler Stinson took his place. Results

Bellator 27

''Bellator 27'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, September 2, 2010, at

. The card featured tournament fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Results

Bellator 28

''Bellator 28'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, September 9, 2010, at Mahalia Jackson Theater in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. This was the first Bellator card with no Tournament Bouts. Background Chas Skelly was expected to fight Georgi Karakhanyan in a fourth season featherweight tournament qualifier bout. However, Skelly injured himself during training and was forced to pull out of the bout. Skelly's replacement was to be UFC veteran,

Alvin Robinson Alvin Leavon Robinson (born July 16, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently fighting as a lightweight for the Bellator Fighting Championships. He is a former Ring of Fire lightweight champion. He holds a professional re ...

. However, Robinson was also forced to pull out of the bout due to injury. Robinson was replaced by WEC veteran Anthony Leone. Toney Canales and J.C. Pennington were set to fight, but for unknown reasons, the fight was pulled at the last minute. The card took place in the same city and during the same night and time as the 2010 NFL season opener, a rematch of the NFC Championship game between the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, a decision in MMA to counter-program a marquee NFL event which may have had adverse effect on local ticket sales. Results

Bellator 29

''Bellator 29'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, September 16, 2010, at The Rave in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The card featured tournament fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background Bellator 29 was the first sanctioned MMA event in Wisconsin. Chico Camus was set to compete against

Jameel Massouh Jameel Badih Massouh (born September 12, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2005 until 2011, he fought in the WEC, Bellator, Pancrase, and King of the Cage. Mixed martial arts career Early career After making ...

in a catchweight bout. However, Camus injured his sternum in a car accident and was forced to withdraw from the bout. Kyle Dietz was set to be Camus' replacement; however, an illness forced Ulysses Gomez out of his bout in the bantamweight tournament and Bryan Goldsby, who was set to fight Nik Mamalis, stepped in for Gomez and returned to the tournament. Dietz was dropped from the card, and Mamalis stepped in to fight Massoush. Justin Lemke was originally set to fight David Oliva, but Oliva was forced out of the bout due to weight issues. Jason Guida stepped in for Oliva as his replacement. The Massouh/Mamalis bout was originally contracted as a 140 lb catchweight fight. Massouh initially weighed in two pounds over the limit, but successfully made weight two hours after the original weigh-in on a subsequent attempt. Jason Guida weighed in five pounds over the 210 lb catchweight limit in his bout against Justin Lemke. Results

Bellator 30

''Bellator 30'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, September 23, 2010, at Fourth Street Live! in

. The card featured tournament fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background Bryan Goldsby replaced Ulysses Gomez in the bantamweight tournament after Gomez was forced to withdraw due to staph infection. Results

Bellator 31

''Bellator 31'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, September 30, 2010, at

L'Auberge du Lac Resort L'Auberge (French for "the inn") may refer to: Restaurants * L'Auberge (restaurant), former Dutch restaurant with two Michelin stars * L'Auberge de Cendrillon, restaurant in Disneyland Paris * L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges L'Auberge du Pont d ...

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...

. The card featured tournament fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background A previously announced fight between

Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight (MMA), heavyweight division. A professional competitor from 1999 to 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, ...

and Dave Herman, was scrapped from this card due to Rodriguez suffering a knee injury. Michal Kita served as Rodriguez's replacement. Results

Bellator 32

''Bellator 32'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, October 14, 2010, at Kansas City Power & Light District in

. The card featured the tournament finals fights in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background This was the fourth

event to be held at the Kansas City Power & Light District, all in 2010. Bellator XVI, Bellator XXII and Bellator XXVI have also been held at this venue. The event hosted bouts to crown the first Bellator Heavyweight and Bantamweight Champions. Results

Bellator 33

''Bellator 33'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, October 21, 2010, at

Liacouras Center The Liacouras Center is a 10,206-seat multi-purpose venue which opened in 1997 and was originally named "''The Apollo of Temple''". The arena was renamed in 2000 for Temple University President, Peter J. Liacouras. It is part of a $107 mil ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The card featured a tournament final fight in Bellator's third season. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Background The main event was supposed to feature Eddie Alvarez defending his lightweight title against season two's lightweight tournament winner, Pat Curran. Curran injured himself during training so Alvarez instead fought

Roger Huerta Roger Huerta (born May 20, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the lightweight division. He initially gained exposure by competing in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator Fighting Ch ...

in a non-title fight. Wilson Reis vs.

Deividas Taurosevičius Deividas Taurosevičius (born August 28, 1977) is a Lithuanian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor from 2002 until 2013, he competed for the WEC, Bellator, the Cage Fury Fight ...

was set to air as a part of the night's main card; however, the fight was not aired for unknown reasons. Results

Bellator 34

''Bellator 34'' was a

event held by

. The event took place on Thursday, October 28, 2010, at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in

. The card featured the final round of the Bellator 115-pound women's tournament in Bellator's third season, as well as Hector Lombard defending his middleweight title. The event was distributed live in prime time by

and its regional sports network affiliates. Results

Tournaments

Heavyweight Tournament bracket

Bantamweight Tournament bracket

Women's Strawweight Tournament bracket

References

External links

Bellator
{{Bellator Tournament Events 2010 American television seasons 2010 in mixed martial arts Bellator MMA by year Fox Sports Networks original programming