No Holds Barred: Bellator Debut on Spike January 17 Preview with Michael Chandler, Rick Hawn, Pat Curran, Patricio Pitbull, Babalu, Bjorn Rebney‏

No Holds Barred: Bellator Debut on Spike January 17 Preview with
Michael Chandler, Rick Hawn, Pat Curran, Patricio Pitbull, Babalu,
Bjorn Rebney

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with
Bellator MMA fighters Michael Chandler, Rick Hawn, Pat Curran,
Patricio Pitbull, and Renato "Babalu" Sobral, and Bellator CEO Bjorn
Rebney.

The highly-anticipated debut of Bellator MMA on Spike TV will take
place this Thursday, January 17, on a card at the University of
California’s Bren Center in Irvine, California. It will be broadcast
live in the U.S. on Spike TV and in the Spanish language on mun2.

Bellator returns with a bang by featuring two title fights on this
first card of 2013. Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler
will defend his belt against challenger and former U.S. judo Olympian
Rick Hawn. Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran will face
Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. This card will also feature the start of
the Bellator season eight light heavyweight tournament, including an
opening round bout between grappling and MMA veteran Renato "Babalu"
Sobral and Russian MMA fighter and former combat sambo champion
Mikhail Zayats.

On a series of recent Bellator media conference calls, we had a chance
to speak with Michael Chandler, Rick Hawn, Pat Curran, Patricio
"Pitbull" Freire, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, and Bjorn Rebney. We
discussed with the fighters what to expect in these important title
and tournament fights, and with Bjorn Rebney the plans for upcoming
tournaments.

In these interviews, former Missouri wrestling All-American Michael
Chandler called it "an honor" to fight an Olympian and an "awesome"
opponent like Rick Hawn, while Rick Hawn noted that this fight "has
the potential to live up to the Alvarez-Chandler fight", the four-
round war in November 2011 where Chandler captured the Bellator
lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez. Both fighters come from
different grappling backgrounds, but have added effective striking to
their arsenals to sustain them at this level of competition.

Pat Curran described his transformation from being a wrestler who
fought MMA into a fighter who has become more confident as a striker.
"I love striking. I love everything about it. I love learning new
moves, new techniques." Patricio "Pitbull" Freire stated that his
opponent is an "all-around" fighter and "complete in all areas". We
shall see how much striking and grappling will take place in this
fight, but both fighters can win on their feet or on the ground.

With their compelling title fights, championship tournament format,
and the best TV deal they've ever had, Bellator MMA, which began in
2009, is now in a position to make a major and lasting impact on the
MMA world. Their January 17 debut card on Spike is one of the
strongest MMA shows which will ever be shown on free TV in the U.S.,
so make sure to watch it.

Plus, we briefly comment on the Eddie Alvarez contract situation and

its coverage in the media.

♔EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess♔, See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress & MMA Princess" Keisha Morrisey, for ♔Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios♔, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and ★Starlite★ Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved.