Bellator 97
| Bellator MMA | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| Created by | Bjorn Rebney |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Spike TV |
| Original release | June 19 – July 31, 2013 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Bellator MMA: Season Eight |
| Followed by | Bellator MMA: Season Nine |
| Bellator 96 | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Date | June 19, 2013 |
| Venue | Winstar World Casino |
| City | Thackerville, Oklahoma |
| Bellator 97 | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Date | July 31, 2013 |
| Venue | Santa Ana Star Center |
| City | Rio Rancho, New Mexico |
Bellator MMA: 2013 Summer Series was the third installment of the Bellator MMA Summer Series and started in June 2013.Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in the heavyweight, light heavyweight and bantamweightweight classes. Instead of the traditional eight-fighter tournaments Bellator has done throughout its run, it put on four-man tournaments.
Originally, the plan was for three events over the summer months with an event in June, July and August. However, on June 23, it was confirmed that only two events would take place during this summer series.
Bellator 96 took place on June 19, 2013 at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The event was distributed live in prime time by Spike TV. It marked the season debut of the 2013 summer series.Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Greg Jackson and Joe Warren took part in commentary.
Background
Bellator 96 featured the opening round of the 2013 Summer Series Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight tournaments.
This event served as the lead in for the debut of Bellator's new reality TV series, Fight Master: Bellator MMA.
Michael Chandler was expected to defend his Lightweight Title against Dave Jansen on this card. However, on June 2, it was announced that Jansen had to pull out of the bout due to an injury.
Vinicius Queiroz was originally scheduled to face Richard Hale in the heavyweight tournament. Queiroz, however, suffered a knee injury and was replaced Ryan Martinez.
Both Derek Campos and Keith Berry missed weight for their fights; as a result, both fighters forfeited a portion of their purses to their opponents and the matches were changed to catchweight.
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