MMA Junkie is reporting TUF veteran Kevin Knabjian will face journeyman Brian Gassaway, and Keoki Cypriano(training partner of WEC lightweight Ricardo Lamas) will face Eric Kriegermeier in the promotion’s third show in the Windy City.  Those matchups join a lineup already featuring Chicago favorite Shonie Carter and Dan Hornbuckle, who has fought in several regional promotions including Ironheart Crown, Total Fight Challenge, and The Duneland Classic.

The Gassaway /Knabjian will be interesting to watch because both trained together at Midwest Training Center, although Gassaway has since left the gym.   The “Mandingo” hasn’t fought since 2008 when he lost to Mike Pyle by armbar at SuperFights MMA in Las Vegas.  Knabjian will make his second appearance in Bellator.  He lost to Jacob Volkman at Bellator 7  by Brabo Choke.

Cypriano goes by the nickname “Hawaii’s Bad Boy” and brings a heavy-handed exciting style to the cage.

Bellator has not officially announced these fights, nor have they officially announced Carter’s fight(against Torrance Taylor) or Hornbuckle’s(against Brad Blackburn.)   The only officially announced fights are two tournament matches.

In the heavyweight tournament Damian Grabowski faces  Scott Barrett in opening round action.  Meanhwhile, Jessica Pene will face Zoila Frausto in the first round of the female 115 pound tournament.  Grabowski and Frausto are two names to watch in season 3 of the Chicago/Los Angeles based fight promotion.

Damian Grabowski is undefeated at 13-0 and has finished all his opponents.  Zoila Frausto has a Muay Thai background and is fresh off an upset knockout victory over highly regarded Rosi Sexton.  That knockout helped the “Warrior Princess” steal the tourney spot originally intended for Sexton.

MMA Junkie is reporting Carter will face Torrance Taylor, a one time Strikeforce fighter, at Bellator 25 which is scheduled for August 19.  Bellator has not officially announced the fight yet.

Prior to taking part in Bellator 25, Shonie is supposed to fight in New Hampshire at HAVOC on July 31 against former Olympic Judoka Rick Hawn for the promotion’s welterweight title.  It’ll be a quick turnaround for Mr. International but maybe he’ll pull off some Chris Leben-esque magic and rip off two straight victories in a month’s time.

Here’s the promo video for HAVOC.

Bellator 25 will mark the Chicago landmark’s second-ever mixed martial arts event — the first being Bellator 14 which took place on April 15, 2010.  The Bellator 25 card will feature two quarterfinal fights in both the Season 3 Heavyweight and Women’s World Championship tournaments.

Damian “The Polish Pitbull” Grabowski will make his U.S. debut in a quarterfinal heavyweight world championship tournament fight against knock-out artist Scott Barrett.

Grabowski, who was considered one of the top heavyweight free agents in the world before signing with Bellator, boasts a perfect 13-0 pro record. The Polish Pitbull has not only finished each of his opponents by TKO or submission, but not one of his opponents has yet to see the third round of a fight. His spectacular tenacity was on full display in April 2009, when he competed in a one-night, 16-man heavyweight tournament in an Austrian promotion that featured no-time-limit bouts. Grabowski dismantled each of his four opponents, winning the tournament with his longest fight lasting only 3:48 into the second frame. In his most recent fight last month Grabowski TKO’d the highly regarded heavyweight Michal Kita in the first round.

Barrett, who owns a four-fight win streak coming into the tournament, fought earlier this year at Bellator 19 where he knocked out formerly undefeated Ty Lee just 2:25 into Round 1.

Bellator 25 will also include an opening-round fight in Bellator’s World Championship Women’s Tournament featuring Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto and the world’s No. 6-ranked flyweight, undefeated Jessica Pene.

Frausto was added to the tournament after she shocked the MMA world recently at Bellator 23 with her stunning KO of the world’s top-ranked and heavily favored Rosi Sexton.  Sexton was subsequently forced out of the tournament due to a 60-day medical suspension from the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority. Pene debuted for Bellator in May 2009 with a first round TKO against Tammie Schneider at Bellator 5.  Her unblemished record also features a submission victory over fellow tournament participant and No. 8 world ranked 115 pounder, Angela Magana.

In other action, Aisling Daly, the best female mixed martial artist in Ireland and the world’s No. 3-ranked 125 lbs. woman, will drop down to 115 lbs. to face 13-5 submission ace and No. 3-ranked flyweight Lisa Ward in the opening round of the World Championship Women’s Tournament.  The 22-year-old Daly will make her U.S. MMA debut backed by a pristine 9-0 record, while Ward enters the fight with one win already coming under the Bellator banner.  Just two weeks ago at Bellator 22, she dismantled Stephanie Frausto with a slick rear naked choke 2:01 into the first round.

The Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight and Women’s World Championship tournaments begin Aug. 12 and will once again be televised LIVE in primetime every Thursday night on FOX Sports Net and during special weekend highlight shows on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator.

Tickets are priced at $100, $75, $50, and $35, and go on sale at Ticketmaster.com beginning this Saturday, July 10^th, at noon.

Just like Askren, Warren boasts outstanding amateur wrestling background.  Coming in Askren had a brief fighting resume, while Warren had already locked up wins over former champions in ex-Hero’s champion Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and former WEC champion Chase Beebe.  Askren’s opponent, American Top Teamer Dan Hornbuckle, who trained under downstate based Jack McVicker(long considered one of the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitors and coaches in the Midwest), went back to his grappling and produced two impressive submission wins en route to the title match.  Warren’s opponent will be Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, a former Chute Boxe fighter who’s known for a dynamic guard and solid BJJ skills in a addition to the trademark Muay Thai.

Joe Warren advances to the Featherweight title as expected.

Askren put a takedown clinic on Hornbuckle and was able to keep top position for most of the fight and reign down punishment.  Although Hornbuckle was able to work some submission attempts from his back, Askren was able to defend the sub attempts and pound away to a unanimous decision.

The match between Freire and Warren could very well play out in similar fashion.  Warren has made a living in his short career at putting opponents on their backs and staying busy enough from the top to earn some decision victories, and those wins have come against some big names.  However Warren has had problems with getting caught in near-tap situations and that plays right into Pitbull’s world.  Although Warren hasn’t succumbed to a finishing move in Bellator, Bibiano Fernandes caught him in an armbar last year during the Dream Featherweight Grand Prix.

Patricio "Pitbull" Freire faces Joe Warren for the Featherweight Title

The Featherweight championship is Thursday at Bellator 23 in Louisville, KY.  It will be an outdoor fight just like the Askren/Hornbuckle match was in Kansas City.  Louisville’s popular Fourth Street Live entertainment district will serve as the venue, the first time it’s hosted a live sporting event.  It’s a breakthrough for MMA in the Bluegrass State as this will be the first time a major national mixed martial arts promotion has staged an event in Kentucky.  Bellator 23 will also feature the Middleweight championship which pits Alexander Schlemenko against Bryan Baker.  You can watch all the action on Comcast Sportsnet at 11 pm.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (June 10, 2010) – Pat Curran completed his unlikely Cinderella-story run through Bellator Fighting Championships’ Season 2 Lightweight Tournament on Thursday, scoring a split decision victory over MMA veteran and 2009 Submission of the Year titleholder Toby Imada to win the tournament championship.

Curran’s win headlined another great night of fights from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in South Florida, roughly 30 miles south of the high school that Curran represented in the state wrestling finals just four years ago.

On Thursday, with dozens of his friends and family looking on, the 22-year-old impressed the judges with an athletic takedown defense and a series of powerful blows to the head that opened two cuts around Imada’s right eye. With the win, Curran earned the Season 2 Championship and the right to fight reigning Bellator Lightweight Champion and 20-2 MMA star Eddie Alvarez

Alvarez, who watched the fight cageside with his son, Eddie Jr., called Curran’s performance “tough” and “impressive.”

“The guy’s powerful and he hits hard,” Alvarez said as Curran (12-3) was presented with a check for $100,000. “I’m looking forward to fighting him.”

Curran, who was inspired to begin a career in MMA by his cousin, UFC, WEC and Strikeforce veteran Jeff Curran, said afterwards that Bellator “changed my life.” It was his third consecutive upset victory along with a quarterfinal KO of Georges St.-Pierre training partner Mike Ricci and a semifinal decision win against UFC veteran and early tournament favorite Roger Huerta.

“What Pat Curran accomplished tonight is exactly what Bellator is all about,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He proved to himself and to the world that he deserves this championship and he deserves a fight with Eddie Alvarez thanks to three straight outstanding wins against three very tough opponents.”

Imada, who helped put Bellator on the map during its inaugural season with his now-famous inverted triangle choke submission of Jorge Masvidal, accepted the defeat graciously, congratulating Curran and saying “that’s what I get for leaving it up to the judges.”

If you missed the fight you can watch all the best moments this weekend on the special highlight shows on airing on NBC(WMAQ TV) and Telemundo(WSNS TV.)

That was Hornbuckle’s second submission victory of the tournament and now he moves on to the finals of the Bellator Welterweight tournament. Hornbuckle hails from Mahomet and got his start in local shows like TFC, Duneland Classic and Ironheart Crown.

Warrior Pro Focus Mitts

Local fighter Pat Curran shocked the MMA world by pulling an upset victory over UFC vet Roger Huerta at Bellator XVII.

From Bellator.com:

BOSTON, Mass. (May 6, 2010) – Pat Curran, the 22-year-old descendant of MMA royalty pulled off one of the most shocking upsets in recent memory Thursday night with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over former UFC standout and Bellator Lightweight Tournament favorite Roger Huerta at Bellator 17 in Boston.

Curran’s stunning victory, which quickly set the MMA world abuzz, served to highlight Bellator’s first-of-its-kind tournament-style format, which has also given rise to several other decided underdogs since its inception last year.

“It was a tremendous night for Pat and a tremendous testament to our tournament format,” Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney said afterward. “This was proof of our concept and exactly what I hoped this organization could provide to fighters. I wanted great fighters to have the opportunity to fight other great fighters where nothing but their performance would dictate their future … an organization where it made no difference if a fighter was world-famous or simply had world class ability. Pat Curran took huge advantage of this opportunity tonight and deserves everything he’s receiving.”

The first nationally-televised MMA event in Boston history also witnessed a spectacular “Super Fight” victory by reigning Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez while reigning “Submission of the Year” title holder Toby Imada punched his ticket to this year’s finals.

But the night undoubtedly belonged to Curran who improved his pro record to 11-3 and took a huge step out of the shadow of his cousin and longtime trainer, MMA legend Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran.
Curran and Huerta traded blows for 15 minutes in a stirring tactical standup fight that brought a raucous crowd at the 85-year-old Wang Theatre to its feet. As the decision was announced, Huerta hung his head in disbelief, saying afterward that “it was just one of those nights.”

“I take my hat off to Pat Curran,” said Huerta, who fell to 21-4. “I started out pretty flat and he capitalized. Ultimately, it’s my fault for leaving it up to the judges. It’s really tough for me to swallow, but now I just need to regroup and look to the future.”

Curran, for his part, credited his coaching and thanked Rebney for the opportunity to fight in the tournament and make a name for himself.

“It was an honor to fight Roger,” an emotional and visibly exhausted Curran told Bellator ring announcer Jimmy Smith immediately after the fight. “I just tried to keep my hands clean and went for the straight right … I was trying to counter and land my shots. I’m looking forward to getting back to the gym as soon as possible and getting to work on my ground game and preparing for Toby Imada.”