BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS HOLDS OPEN TRYOUTS,
SIGNS TROY GERHART
Undefeated Lightweight Fighter Earns Contract
with Bellator Fighting Championships
Los Angeles, Calif. – March 19, 2009 - Bellator Fighting Championships, a
first of its kind mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion airing on ESPN
Deportes, has signed undefeated Lightweight Troy Gerhart after discovering
him during open tryouts held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Hollywood, Florida on March 17, 2009. The tryouts were staged by Bellator
to give one local Florida fighter the opportunity to fight on national
television during one of the upcoming 12 Bellator events on ESPN Deportes.
Of the numerous fighters who participated, Troy Gerhart’s performance earned
him a spot as a featured fighter in Bellator’s Lightweight (155 lbs.)
division. He was the only fighter among the highly-talented group selected.
Gerhart will not be participating in Bellator’s 155 lbs. tournament, but
will be featured in a 155 lbs. bout in the coming weeks as part of the
Bellator series. Gerhart, who trains out of Gracie Tampa, holds a 4-0
record as a professional with all 4 wins coming by KO or TKO. He has a
strong wrestling background and has been training alongside UFC veterans
Matt Arroyo and Corey Hill at Gracie Tampa Academy.
“Troy is an extremely explosive wrestler with great technical grappling, and
his record shows that he has very heavy hands,” said Matt Stansell,
Matchmaker/Executive Director of Fighter Development for Bellator Fighting
Championships. “We are excited to give him a chance to show what he can do
in Bellator’s Lightweight division.”
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.
For more information on Bellator Fighting Championships, visit
<http://www.bellator.com/> www.bellator.com. For the Spanish language
version of the website, visit <http://espanol.bellator.com/>
Espanol.Bellator.com.
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 fighting 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.
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