2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the
Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so it began with the show on March 9, 2012.
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 ...
tournaments were held in five
weight classes, including the bantamweight,
featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions.
Bellator 60
''Bellator 60'' took place on March 9, 2012 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 60 was expected to take place on March 2, but the season opener was pushed back one week.
Wagnney Fabiano was originally scheduled to face
Ronnie Mann in the opening round of the Featherweight tournament; however, on March 1, 2012, Fabiano pulled out of the bout and was replaced by
Mike Corey.
Genair da Silva was originally scheduled to face
Alexandre Bezerra in the opening round of the Featherweight tournament; however, after weigh-in issues, da Silva was forced to pull out of the bout. He was replaced by
Kenny Foster who was set to fight Bobby Reardanz on the undercard of this event.
Results
Bellator 61
''Bellator 61'' took place on March 16, 2012 at Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, Louisiana.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
The event was to feature the rematch between season-five heavyweight tournament finalists
Eric Prindle and
Thiago Santos. Prindle and Santos 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. However, on March 15, Bellator announced the fight had been pushed back a week to Bellator 62 due to Prindle having "flu-like symptoms."
This event marked the first time that
Bellator Fighting Championships aired in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
on
TV Esporte Interativo.
Results
Bellator 62
''Bellator 62'' took place on March 23, 2012 at Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
The event hosted the opening round of Bellator's Season Six Lightweight Tournament.
Eric Prindle and
Thiago Santos were supposed to have their rematch of the Season Five Heavyweight Tournament Final on this card, after having been delayed a week from Bellator 61. Santos, however, failed to make weight and the bout was cancelled, and Prindle was awarded the tournament win by default. A scheduled fight between
Cosmo Alexandre and Oscar de la Parra was also scrapped.
Results
Bellator 63
''Bellator 63'' took place on March 30, 2012 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
The event hosted the opening round of Bellator's Season Six Welterweight Tournament.
War Machine
War Machine (Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared i ...
was expected to fight
Karl Amoussou in the opening round of the welterweight tournament. However, War Machine was sentenced to a year in prison and was forced out of the bout and the tournament.
Brian Foster was scheduled to face
David Rickels in the opening round of the welterweight tournament, but was not medically cleared for the event. Stepping in to fight Rickels was newcomer
Jordan Smith.
Results
Bellator 64
''Bellator 64'' took place on April 6, 2012 at Caesar's Windsor in Windsor, Ontario.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
The event hosted two of the opening round bouts of Bellator's Season Six Bantamweight Tournament.
Results
Bellator 65
''Bellator 65'' took place on April 13, 2012 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Heavyweight champion
Cole Konrad
Cole Konrad (born April 2, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter. Konrad won a gold medal at the 2005 Pan-American Championships. He won the NCAA wrestling championships in 2006 and 2007 at 285 pounds and finished third at the ...
was originally slated to defend his title against
Eric Prindle at this event. The fight, however, was moved to Bellator 70.
Results
Bellator 66
''Bellator 66'' took place on April 20, 2012 at
I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
NAAFS women's champion
Aisling Daly was originally scheduled to face Jessica Eye on this card. Daly withdrew from the bout due to an ear infection and was replaced by Anita Rodriguez.
Bruno Santos was originally scheduled to face
Brian Rogers in a Middleweight tournament semifinal bout; however, on April 16, 2012, it was revealed that Santos had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Bellator newcomer Andreas Spang.
Tyler Combs and
Jason Dent were originally announced to face each other in a lightweight bout. Nevertheless, the fight did not materialize.
Results
Bellator 67
''Bellator 67'' took place on May 4, 2012 at
Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator Lightweight champion,
Michael Chandler, competed in a non-title "Super Fight" against PRIDE, UFC, and DREAM veteran,
Akihiro Gono, at this event.
Results
Bellator 68
''Bellator 68'' took place on May 11, 2012 at Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Kurt Pellegrino was scheduled to fight
Marcin Held
Marcin Held (born January 18, 1992) is a Polish mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). He is currently ranked #5 in the Konfrontacj ...
at this event.
However, on March 13, Pellegrino suffered a knee injury and was forced to pull out of the bout.
Phillipe Nover had stepped in as Pellegrino's replacement, but was eventually replaced by Bellator newcomer Derrick Kennington.
Eddie Fyvie and
Jeff Lentz were originally scheduled to compete in a featherweight bout;
however, the fight did not materialize.
Marius Žaromskis versus
Waachiim Spiritwolf was originally going to be contested at welterweight; however, Spiritwolf failed to make the 171 pounds cut off allowance and the fight was changed to a catchweight bout at 172 pounds.
A catchweight bout at 230 pounds between
Carmelo Marrero and
Seth Petruzelli was cancelled the day of the show due to an illness by Petruzelli.
Results
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Bellator 69
''Bellator 69'' took place on May 18, 2012 at the L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in
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 event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
This event held the finals of the Season Six Middleweight tournament.
Heavyweights
Ron Sparks and Kevin Asplund were to compete in a tournament eliminator bout for a spot in the Bellator Season Seven Heavyweight tournament.
However, the bout was cancelled the day of the show due to Sparks feeling ill.
With
Hector Lombard leaving for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...
, the Middleweight title was vacated. On April 25, 2012, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced that the winner of the Middleweight tournament finale between
Maiquel Falcão and
Andreas Spang will face
Alexander Shlemenko to crown the company's new Middleweight champion.
Results
Bellator 70
''Bellator 70'' took place on May 25, 2012 at the Orleans Convention Center 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
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Heavyweight champion
Cole Konrad
Cole Konrad (born April 2, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter. Konrad won a gold medal at the 2005 Pan-American Championships. He won the NCAA wrestling championships in 2006 and 2007 at 285 pounds and finished third at the ...
was originally slated to defend his title against
Eric Prindle at Bellator 65. Prindle, however, was injured and the fight was moved to this card, Bellator 70.
Results
Tournaments
Middleweight tournament bracket
Welterweight tournament bracket
Lightweight tournament bracket
Featherweight tournament bracket
Bantamweight tournament bracket
Bellator 71
''Bellator 71'' 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 held by
Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on June 22, 2012 at the
Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in
Chester, West Virginia.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
EPIX and online at SpikeTV.com.
Background
A preliminary bout between
E. J. Brooks and Joey Holt was originally announced by the promotion. However, the bout failed to materialize.
Richard Hale was supposed to face Beau Tribolet in the Tournament Quarterfinal, but was not cleared to compete so
Tim Carpenter (who originally was supposed to face John Hawk) stepped in as a last minute replacement.
Results
Bellator 72
''Bellator 72'' 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 held by
Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on July 20, 2012 at
USF Sun Dome in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
EPIX and
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Paul Daley made his promotional debut at this event against
Rudy Bears in a welterweight fight.
Marius Žaromskis and
Waachiim Spiritwolf competed in a rematch - their third fight together - following a controversial doctor stoppage in their previous Bellator fight in May 2012.
A heavyweight bout between Chris Barnett and Tom Sauer was initially announced by the promotion for this card. However, the bout failed to materialize.
Results
Bellator 73
''Bellator 73'' 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 held by
Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on August 24, 2012 at Harrah's Tunica Hotel and Casino in
Tunica, Mississippi.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
This fight card was to feature
Pat Curran making the first defense of his Featherweight title against Bellator season 4
Featherweight tournament winner 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 ...
. However, on August 14, 2012, it was announced that Curran had suffered an injury and the bout was to be rescheduled for a later date.
The card featured the finals of the season 6
Bantamweight tournament and 2012 Summer Series
Light Heavyweight tournament.
Marcus "Lelo" Aurelio was originally supposed to make his promotional debut on this card, but was removed due to an injury. His original opponent, Amaechi Oselukwue, instead met replacement
Kelvin Tiller. Additionally, a heavyweight bout between Maurice Jackson and Chris Miller was announced, but failed to materialize.
Results
Light Heavyweight tournament bracket
Bellator 74
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
. It was the season debut of season seven.
Background
Bellator 74 hosted the opening round in the Bellator Season Seven Welterweight Tournament.
Alexandre Bezerra was originally scheduled to face
The Ultimate Fighter: Live alumni Jeff Smith. However, Smith failed his pre-fight medical and was replaced by Matt McCook in a 157 lb catchweight fight.
Plinio Cruz and Kelvin Tiller were also originally announced to meet in a middleweight fight, but the bout was cancelled after Cruz sustained an injury in training.
Results
Bellator 75
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
The event featured the long-planned rematch between season-five heavyweight tournament finalists
Eric Prindle and
Thiago Santos. Prindle and Santos 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. The initial rematch was scheduled for Bellator 61. However, on March 15, Bellator announced the fight had been pushed back a week to Bellator 62 due to Prindle having "flu-like symptoms."
The following week Santos failed to make weight and the bout was cancelled, and Prindle was awarded the tournament win by default. Incredibly, the fourth scheduled meeting of these two fighters again ended in controversy as this time Prindle accidentally kicked Santos in the groin in round one.
Results
Bellator 76
''Bellator 76'' took place on October 12, 2012 at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 76 hosted the opening round in the Bellator Season Seven Featherweight Tournament.
Fight card
Bellator 77
''Bellator 77'' took place on October 19, 2012 at the Reading Eagle Theater in the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 77 hosted the opening round in the Bellator Season Seven Lightweight Tournament.
Results
Bellator 78
Bellator 78 took place on October 26, 2012 at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 78 hosted the semi-finals of Bellator's Season Seven Welterweight Tournament.
Results
Bellator 79
Bellator 79 took place on November 2, 2012 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 79 hosted the one half of the semi-finals of Bellator's Season Seven Heavyweight Tournament and Featherweight Tournament.
Paul Daley was originally scheduled for this event, but was taken off the card due to concerns that he would be stopped at Canada border entry due to incomplete paperwork needed to secure a visa.
Results
Bellator 80
Bellator 80 took place on November 9, 2012 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 80 hosted the second half of the semi-finals of Bellator's Season Seven Heavyweight Tournament and Featherweight Tournament.
The featherweight bout between Sky Moiseichik and
Shanon Slack
Shanon Slack (born April 23, 1983) is a retired Americans, American Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in Bellator MMA, Bellator's Featherweight (MMA), featherweight division. He later attended law school, and currently works ...
was changed to a 150 lb catchweight bout after both fighters failed to make weight.
Results
Bellator 81
Bellator 81 took place on November 16, 2012 at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 81 hosted the semi-finals of Bellator's Season Seven Lightweight Tournament.
Results
Bellator 82
Bellator 82 took place on November 30, 2012 at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 82 hosted the final of Bellator's Season Seven Welterweight Tournament.
British fighter
Michael Page was expected to make his Bellator debut at this event, but withdrew due to undergoing jaw surgery.
Results
Bellator 83
Bellator 83 took place on December 7, 2012 at the Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 83 was expected to host the final of Bellator's Season Seven Featherweight Tournament between finalists
Shahbulat Shamhalaev and
Rad Martinez.
However, the night of the show it was announced on the air that the bout was cancelled due to Shamhalaev having food poisoning. The fight was initially moved to the following week's show, but then later postponed to season eight.
Results
Bellator 84
Bellator 84 took place on December 14, 2012 at the
Horseshoe Casino in
Hammond, Indiana
Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...
.
The event was distributed live in prime time by
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision.
The channel launched initially as an all-music ...
.
Background
Bellator 84 hosted the final of Bellator's Season Seven Heavyweight and Lightweight Tournaments.
Christian M'Pumbu was expected to make his first defense of his light heavyweight title against
2012 Summer Series tournament winner
Attila Vegh.
However, on December 3, 2012, it was announced that Vegh had been pulled from the card due to injury and the match postponed for a later date.
Marcin Held
Marcin Held (born January 18, 1992) is a Polish mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). He is currently ranked #5 in the Konfrontacj ...
and
Dave Jansen were scheduled to compete in the Lightweight Tournament Final on this card. However, the match was cancelled because the Indiana Gaming Commission barred the 20-year-old Held from competing as one must be 21 to enter a casino.
The fight between Richard Hale and Alexander Volkov was the Heavyweight Tournament Final as well as for the vacated Heavyweight Title.
Results
Tournaments
Heavyweight tournament bracket
Welterweight tournament bracket
Lightweight tournament bracket
Featherweight tournament bracket
References
External links
Bellator
{{Bellator Tournament Events
2012 American television seasons
2012 in mixed martial arts
Bellator MMA by year