Bellator Opens Season 9 With Middleweight Title Bout, Shlemenko vs. Marshall

Bellator MMA will host a special Saturday event to kick off the promotion’s highly anticipated Season 9 debut from Connecticut’s own Mohegan Sun Casino Saturday, September 7th live on Spike. The night will feature reigning Bellator Middleweight World Champion Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko putting his title on the line against Season 8 Middleweight Tournament Winner Doug Marshall, the live “Fight Master” Tournament Final, and the Bellator MMA return of “The Baddest Man on The Planet” Joe Warren, as the former Bellator World Champion will begin his journey through The Toughest Tournament In Sports in his quest for another Bellator Title. The night will also feature the opening round of Bellator’s Fall Season Middleweight Tournament.

“The Baddest Man on The Planet is back with Bellator, and I’m already counting down the days until September 7th,” Warren said. “I know what it feels like to have that Bellator belt wrapped around your waist, and I want it back. I’ve got Nick Kirk standing in my way to start the tournament, he’s a tough guy but nothing is going to get in my way if it means getting back that belt.”

The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. EST on Spike. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 6:00 p.m. EST. Tickets for the event will be on sale Thursday, June 20th at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting the Mohegan Sun Box Office, with tickets starting at just $30 dollars.

“This Fall’s season is the most stacked season we’ve ever had and this special Saturday night, 3-hour kick off free on Spike TV is an amazing first act,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “This Middleweight World Title fight has fight of the year written all over it. Adding Joe’s return, the Fight Master finale and the opening round of the Middleweight tourney will be an incredible night of fights at Mohegan Sun.”

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA