2011 in Bellator MMA

Bellator 35 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 5, 2011, at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. The card kicked off Bellator Season Four and featured opening round fights in the Season Four Welterweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. At this event Steve Carl was expected to fight Jay Hieron in the opening round of the welterweight tournament. However, Carl injured himself during training and was removed from the tournament. His replacement was Anthony Lapsley. Poppies Martinez was expected to fight at this event, but a bout never materialized. The event drew an average of around 200,000 viewers on MTV2. Which helped MTV2 in several key advertising demographics including, an 83 percent increase among men aged 18 to 49, an 80 percent increase among men 18 to 34, and a 133 percent increase among men aged 25 to 34. Results ==Bellator 36==

Bellator 36 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 12, 2011, at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The card featured opening-round fights in the Bellator Season Four Lightweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background Toby Imada was originally scheduled to face French fighter Ferrid Kheder; however, Kheder refused to weigh in and Josh Shockley was moved up from the preliminary card to face Imada. Shockley's original opponent, Kelvin Hackney, still weighed in, but was pulled off the card and paid his show money and win bonus. Hackney was expected to fight at Bellator 45. The event drew an estimated 230,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 37==

Bellator 37 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 19, 2011, at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, Oklahoma. The card featured opening round fights in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. The event drew an estimated 173,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 38==

Bellator 38 was mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on March 26, 2011, at Harrah's Tunica Hotel and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The card featured the opening round fights in the Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event showcased the inaugural light heavyweight tournament. Ivanov instead fought William Penn. The event drew an estimated 150,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 39==

Bellator 39 was a mixed martial arts held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on April 2, 2011, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The card featured one semi-final fight in both the Bellator Season Four Welterweight and Lightweight Tournaments. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background The lightweight semifinal bout between Toby Imada and Patricky Freire was originally set to take place at Bellator 40. In a last-minute change not announced by the promotion, Luiz Azeredo stepped in to replace Matt Veach in a preliminary card matchup. The event drew an estimated 174,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 40==

Bellator 40 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on April 9, 2011, at First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The card featured fights in the Welterweight and Lightweight Bellator Season Four Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren competed in a non-title bout against Nick Thompson at this event. Former Sengoku fighter Ronnie Mann was expected to make his Bellator debut at this event. However, visa issues kept Mann from entering the United States and his fight has been pushed back to the Bellator 42 card. The event drew an estimated 218,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 41==

Bellator 41 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships on April 16, 2011, at Cocopah Resort and Casino in Yuma, Arizona. The card featured two semi-final fights in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background Tony Johnson was expected to fight Carlos Flores at the event, but for unknown reasons was replaced by Rudy Aguilar. The event drew a season low of 132,000 average viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 42==

Bellator 42 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on April 23, 2011, at the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, Oklahoma. The card featured the semi-finals in the Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background Bellator Heavyweight champion Cole Konrad was scheduled to compete in a non-title "super fight" bout against Paul Buentello at this event. However, it was revealed that Buentello had to pull out of the bout due to a back injury. Former Sengoku fighter Ronnie Mann was expected to make his Bellator debut at Bellator 40. The event drew an estimated 199,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 43==

Bellator 43 was a mixed martial arts held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on May 7, 2011, at the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The card featured the final fight in the Bellator Season Four Welterweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background A heavyweight bout between Neil Grove and The Ultimate Fighter 10 alumnus, Zak Jensen was scheduled for this event; however, Grove pulled out of the bout on May 3 due to an injury. A local feature bout between George Burton and John Bryant was also scratched. The event drew an estimated 182,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 44==

Bellator 44 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on May 14, 2011, at Harrah's Resort. The card featured the final fight in the Bellator Season Four Lightweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background EliteXC and Ring of Combat veteran James Jones was expected to fight at this event, but a bout did not materialize. Lyman Good was scheduled to face Dan Hornbuckle in a welterweight bout. However, on May 6, Good pulled out of the fight due to an injury. A scheduled bout between Anthony Morrison and Bryan Goldsby was canceled due to Morrison weighing-in 10 pounds over weight. The event drew a season high of 325,000 average viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 45==

Bellator 45 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on May 21, 2011, at the L'Auberge du Lac Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The card featured final round fights in the Bellator Season Four Featherweight and Light Heavyweight Tournaments. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background Kalvin Hackney, whose fight was canceled at Bellator 36, was moved to fight at this event. The event drew an estimated 264,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Tournaments==

Light Heavyweight tournament bracket Welterweight tournament bracket Lightweight tournament bracket Featherweight tournament bracket ==Bellator 46==

Bellator 46 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on June 25, 2011, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The card was part of Bellator's inaugural Summer Series and featured opening round fights in the Summer Series Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the first round of an eight-man featherweight tournament to be held over the Summer Series. David Baggett missed the middleweight limit allowance of 186 for non-title fights, weighing in at 191.5 lb, and his bout with Moyses Gabin was scrapped from the card. The event drew an estimated 185,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 47==

Bellator 47 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on July 23, 2011, at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. The card featured semi-final fights in the Bellator 2011 Summer Series Featherweight Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event was to feature Joe Warren's first defense of his featherweight title against season four tournament winner Patricio Freire. Freire, however, pulled out of the fight in early July due to a broken hand. This was Bellator's first event in Canada. Bellator 4 was set to take place in Canada, but was moved due to the promotion unable to come to terms with the Quebec Boxing Commission. Ben Saunders was expected to fight at this event, but had to pull out due to an undisclosed injury he suffered in training. Bantamweights Bo Harris and Bryan Goldsby were originally announced to be facing each other, but the bout did not materialize in the days leading up to the event as Harris failed to complete his medical requirements in a timely fashion. The event drew an estimated 277,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 48==

Bellator 48 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on August 20, 2011, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The card was part of Bellator's inaugural Summer Series and featured the final round fights in the Summer Series Tournament. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the final round of an eight-man featherweight tournament that was held over the Summer Series. The event drew an estimated 226,000 viewers on MTV2. Results Featherweight tournament bracket ==Bellator 49==

Bellator 49 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 10, 2011, at Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The card was the debut of the promotion's fifth season and distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the first round of an eight-man welterweight tournament to be held over the duration of Bellator's fifth season. Rick Hawn was expected to face Ben Saunders at this event but Hawn was forced out of the bout due to a knee injury. Hawn was replaced by Bellator newcomer Chris Cisneros. The Ultimate Fighter 12 competitor, Andy Main, was set to fight Kenny Foster on the undercard of this event. However, after an undisclosed injury, Main was pulled from the bout. On September 6, 2011, it was announced Bellator's Season 5 "Local Feature Fights" would be streamed live on Spike.com, starting with this event. The event drew an estimated 235,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 50==

Bellator 50 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 17, 2011, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background The event hosted the opening round of the middleweight tournament in Bellator's fifth season. Veteran welterweight fighter Ailton Barbosa won Bellator's open tryouts in Hollywood, Florida in June 2011 to earn his spot on the card. R.J. Goodridge was scheduled to fight J. P. Reese, but after suffering an undisclosed injury Goodridge pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Martin Brown. Also, Ryan Hodge was scheduled to fight Valdir Araujo, but was pulled from the bout with an injury, and replaced with Brett Cooper. The event drew an estimated 114,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 51==

Bellator 51 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on September 24, 2011, at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the first round of an eight-man bantamweight tournament to be held over the course of Bellator's fifth season. Joe Soto was originally scheduled to face Eduardo Dantas in the opening round of the bantamweight-tournament. However, he was pulled from the bout after losing to Eddie Yagin at Tachi Palace Fights 10 and replaced by Wilson Reis. The Jessica Eye-Casey Noland bout was changed from 125 lb to a 127 lb catchweight after Noland failed to make weight./ The event drew an estimated 158,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 52==

Bellator 52 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. It took place on October 1, 2011, at the L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Louisiana. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the opening round of Bellator's second heavyweight tournament. Blagoy Ivanov was originally scheduled to face Thiago Santos. Santos, however, was unable to travel from Brazil for the event and was replaced by Zak Jensen. The event drew an estimated 269,000 viewers on MTV 2. Results ==Bellator 53==

Bellator 53 was a mixed martial arts event held by Bellator Fighting Championships. The event took place on October 8, 2011, at the Buffalo Run Hotel & Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2. Background This event hosted the second round of the Bellator Season 5 Welterweight Tournament. The event drew an estimated 103,000 viewers on MTV2. Results ==Bellator 54==