CHICAGO, Ill. (July 19, 2011) — Bellator Fighting Championships’ highly successful Summer Series will come to a close on August 20th from Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut LIVE on MTV2. While the main card includes the Finals of Bellator’s Featherweight Summer Series Tournament, two heavyweight special feature fights that include Ricco “Suave” Rodriguez vs. Seth “Silverback” Petruzelli and Bellator Heavyweight World Champion Cole Konrad taking on MMA veteran Paul Buentello, and a lightweight battle between the undefeated Rene Nazare and Costa Rican native Juan Barrantes, the night will host a slew of feature fights loaded with talent.
Danbury native and 4-time Bellator veteran (4-0 in Bellator) Dan Cramer will take on New Haven resident and true finisher John “Red Velvet” Clarke in a middleweight showdown. Cramer enters the fight riding a three fight win streak, including victories at Bellator 34, 39, and 46 respectively.
“I’ve been tremendously successful at Mohegan Sun and with Bellator, so I’m pumped to be fighting in front of friends, family, and the fans at Bellator 48 this August,” said Cramer.
North Haven’s own Andrew Calandrelli will be making his Bellator debut against Philadelphia native Matt Nice in a lightweight tilt. Calandrelli owns and operates a 5,000 square foot MMA training center in New Haven, and will be looking to impress the Mohegan Sun faithful.
Welterweights square off when the nearly undefeated Brett Oteri (8-1) takes on another Danbury native in Ryan Quinn, who is 2-0 with Bellator at Mohegan Sun.
NCAA Division I All-American Nik “The Machete” Fekete is back with Bellator after appearing in the promotion’s Season 4 Light Heavyweight Tournament, and takes on Mark Griffin in a feature fight showdown. Griffin is known for his knockout power, so all eyes will be on this intriguing fight.
Rounding out the local action will be Saul “The Spider” Almeida against Tateki Matsuda in a featherweight affair. Originally from Brazil, Almeida regularly trains with Team Blackhouse which is home to the Nogueira brothers and Anderson Silva. “The Spider” was also the winner of the 2010 Bellator open tryout that was held in Boston, and will finally be getting his chance inside the Bellator cage.
“Mohegan Sun has been a fantastic venue partner for us since our first season, so to be able to bring this type of stacked fight card to our East Coast fans was a no-brainer,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney.
The full list of Feature Fights is listed below:
Dan Cramer vs. John Clarke
Andrew Calandrelli vs. Matt Nice
Brett Oteri vs. Ryan Quinn
Nik Fekete vs. Mark Griffin
Saul Almeida vs. Tateki Matsuda
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
