UPDATE – Quaint Kempf is out due to injury so Josh Quayhagen will be facing Brenton Taylor (3-1) out of Tyler TX. This is a rematch of their first fight this past November which Josh won by TKO in RD1. (3/13/12)
DALLAS, TX, March 12, 2012 – Bellator 61 hits the Riverdome in Boisser City, LA this Friday night with what should be another exciting event following last week’s event in Hammond, Indiana that saw Pat Curran defeat Joe Warren for the organization’s 145 lbs. title and four semi-finalists advance (Straus, Corey, Mann, Sandro) in the current featherweight tourney. This time around, the LIVE portion of the MTV2 card features the heavyweight tournament final between Eric Pridle and Thiago Santos along with the quarterfinals of the middleweight tourney that includes guys like Vitor Vianna and former UFC fighter Maiquel Falcao. The card begins at 7PM central time on MTV2.
Aside from the televised bouts, Texas MMA fans can look forward to some notable fights on the undercard as it is filled with top talent headed out of the Lone Star State.
To start off, three veterans representing the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area make the trek across state lines to represent the North Texas fight scene against tough competition.
Imperial fighter Derek Campos (9-2) will be looking for his second win in a row in the Bayou State when he takes on Florida regional veteran Patrick Cenoble (8-1). This should be another tough test for Campos, who most recently beat JMMA vet Kota Okazawa at G1 Fights this past January.
Next up is “Wild Thing” himself, Jason Sampson (8-1). Long considered one of the state’s top prospects at the lighter weights, Jason lost his last fight in what many of his fans would label as a controversial decision. With his record no longer unblemished, he will now be looking to make a statement in this upcoming fight against fellow Texan Jeremy Myers (4-3), a 22 year old out of Austin who most recently beat Randy Villarreal at the inaugural Elements Fighting (EFC) show out in Plano this past January.
Octagon MMA’s Quaint Kempf (4-2) rounds out the DFW contingent against undefeated East Texan Josh Quayhagen in what should be a very exciting fight. Both these men have had lengthy careers at both the amateur and pro levels with Quaint having experience in leagues such as Shark Fights while Quayhagen already has a Bellator win to his record debuting as a pro in the organization.
Rounding out the Texas representatives for this card is Marshall, TX native Derrick Krantz (10-5). He’ll be taking on submission specialist and likely home state favorite Eric Scallan (10-3). D-Rock likely wants this one bad after dropping his last 2 over some tough opponents in Sean Spencer and Brian Melancon. Meanwhile, Eric will be looking to continue his own momentum with 2 wins already in 2012 as part of a 3-fight win streak.
Now while these undercard fights won’t be broadcast on MTV2, the good news for fans interested in seeing how these guys do is that they’ll be able to watch the online stream LIVE on Spike.com. We’re working to confirm the official start time but our best guess is that all five undercard fights should be televised online beginning around 5PM.
Here’s the full card for Bellator 61.
MAIN CARD (MTV2)
- Eric Prindle vs. Thiago Santos (heavyweight tourney final)
- Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy (middleweight-tourney opening round)
- Brian Rogers vs. Vitor Vianna (middleweight-tourney opening round)
- Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O’Donnell (middleweight-tourney opening round)
- Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos (middleweight-tourney opening round)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com)
- Brenton Taylor vs. Josh Quayhagen
- Trey Houston vs. Jeremiah Riggs
- Derrick Krantz vs. Eric Scallan
- Derek Campos vs. Patrick Cenoble
- Jeremy Myers vs. Jason Sampson
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