Big Weekend For Combat Sports On TV

Friday
8:00 PM: Friday Night Fights, ESPN2
8:00 PM: World Series of Fighting 20, NBC Sports
8:00 PM: Bellator MMA 136, Spike TV
9:00 PM: RFA 25, AXS TV
9:00 PM: SHObox: Coly vs Khytrov, Showtime

Saturday
7:30 PM: Premier Boxing Champions: Garcia vs Peterson, NBC
10:00 PM: Premier Boxing Champions, NBC Sports

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Bradley, Tieva On Bellator MMA Prelims

A pair of Minnesota natives will be fighting on the October 18 +Bellator MMA show in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Veteran Paul Bradley and prospect Andre Tieva will both be making their debut for the promotion.

A 3-time Strikeforce fighter, Paul Bradley (20-5) will fight after a 1-year absence from mma competition. His opponent is Bellator Season 6 tournament champion Karl Amoussou (16-5-2). Bradley last fought in October 2012, a split-decision loss to Valdir Araujo. Amoussou lost to Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren by Round 3 doctor-stoppage TKO in January.

At 6-0, bantamweight Andre Tieva is making the jump to the bigger stage after dominating at the local level. Tieva has finished all six opponents in under two rounds. While the stage might be bigger, the opponent for Tieva is not. Former Iowa Challenge champion Christopher Lane (10-10) has fought all of his bouts in the upper Midwest and is coming off back-to-back losses.

Former teammates at The Academy in Brooklyn Park, Bradley now trains at Alliance MMA in San Diego.

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Nick Kirk Makes Bellator Return

September 6 update: Joe Warren was declared unable to compete and the Warren vs Kirk fight has been cancelled. Kirk will NOT fight at Bellator 98.

Bellator MMA 98 - September 7, 2013

Minneapolis bantamweight Nick Kirk, who trains at The Academy in Brooklyn Park, will return to the +Bellator MMA cage at Mohegan Sun Arena on September 7. His opponent will be former Bellator World champion Joe Warren.

Kirk (10-2) made his Bellator debut in January, losing by split decision to Tony Zelinski. A submission-victory at a smaller show in Bismarck on April 13 got Kirk back in the win column. His return to the +SPIKE TV promotion won't be an easy one. Joe Warren (8-3) is a former world champion with Bellator, but has not fought since November of 2012.

Fightcard (tentative):

• Middleweight title: Alexander Shlemenko (47-7) vs Brett Cooper (19-8)
• Bantamweight Tourney semi: Nick Kirk (10-2) vs Joe Warren (8-3)
• Middleweight Tourney quarter: Mikkel Parlo (9-1) vs Brian Rogers (10-5)
• Middleweight Tourney quarter: Perry Filkins (7-1) vs Jeremy Kimball (9-3)
• Middleweight Tourney quarter: Andreas Spang (8-3) vs Justin Torrey (7-0)
• Middleweight Tourney quarter: Jason Butcher (6-0) Giva Santana (18-2)

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MMA TV Schedule

Combat sports events dominate the TV listings this week.

A glance at upcoming shows:

Wednesday: +UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship Fight Night 27: Condit vs Kampmann II - Fox Sports

Thursday: King of the Cage: Split Decision - MAVtv

Thursday: +Bellator MMA Fight Master - SpikeTV

Friday: Titan Fighting Championships 26: Hallman vs Hornbuckle - AXStv

Saturday: +UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship 149: Henderson vs Pettis II - PPV

For complete details on when and where to watch check out the fight calendar page.


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