While mixed martial arts has exploded in leaps and bounds in the last couple of years, arguably, the pinnacle of North Texas MMA took place when the UFC held UFC 103 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Since that watershed night, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has rapidly gained national respect and recognition for its saturation of talented fighters. All of which stands to reason why burgeoning MMA promotional entity, Bellator Fighting Championship, has decided to hold their Bellator 19 promotion from the Verizon Center in Grand Prairie this Thursday.
For those of you who only view MMA through UFC tinted shades, Bellator provides a unique experience in that there promotions are linked in a tournament synergy. For example, two of the featured bouts on Thursday’s card will represent semi-finals in Bellator’s welterweight tournament. To date, Bellator’s conscious effort to not emulate promotional powerhouses like the UFC, and Strikeforce has slowly begun to reap rewards and the fact that Fox Sports Net, the network that airs the Bellator cards, has seen an incredible spike in viewership from the beginning of this season’s premier on April 8th. Or as a recent Bellator press release states, “Bellator viewership outpaces prior FOX Sport Net MMA programming by 46% among coveted 25-54 male demo; Bellator remains highest-rated weekly program distributed by FSN nationally.”
Needless to say, Bellator’s arrival to North Texas is a pretty big deal. In fact, Thursday’s card is arguably the biggest, most high profile, MMA to hit North Texas show since UFC 103 last year.
What: Bellator Fighting Championship 19
When: Thursday, May 20
Where: The Verizon Center (formally Nokia Theater) in Grand Prairie, TX
Why You Should Care: Because, as stated above, Bellator 19 is the biggest professional MMA card to hit the DFW since UFC 103. Bellator prides itself on fighters on the verge of stardom giving their all in the cage and Thursday night offers those who purchase a ticket to witness a who’s who of DFW prospects on the undercard.
Fight of the Night: Brandon McDowell vs. Joe Christopher is a fight that has war written all over it. But, expect the highly anticipated rematch between Ben Askren and Ryan Thomas, which has been growing testier, to steal the show.
Fight Card
Televised Main Card (7:00 PM CST Fox Sports Southwest)
Joe Soto vs. Diego Saraiva – Non-title superfight
Ben Askren vs. Ryan Thomas – Welterweight Semi-final
Dan Hornbuckle vs. Steve Carl – Welterweight Semi-final
Local Preliminary Card
Aaron Wise vs. Douglas Frey
Donyiell Winrow vs. Josh Smith
Jared Lopez vs. Johnny Bedford
Brandon McDowell vs. Joe Christopher
Daniel Pineda vs. Chas Skelly
Scott Barrett vs. Ty Lee
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