Bellator Boss: More Seasons Coming, TV Issue Resolved

Bjorn Rebney file photo: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com

Following the conclusion of Bellator’s third season Thursday in Hollywood, Fla., CEO Bjorn Rebney promised big plans for his promotion in 2011.

“I can tell you thankfully there will be a season four, five, six and beyond,” Rebney said. “Four will be starting at the beginning of 2011, and my hope had been that at the Philadelphia event [last Thursday] we’d be able to announce what’s going on from a television perspective. A lot of people always ask the question about Fox Sports Network and about the delays of broadcasts and the preemptions and the nature of that network, and we have overcome that issue, which is great for us. It’s great for our brand development. We’ll be making some firm announcements in terms of start dates and in terms of networks and in terms of times and days for shows in relatively short order.”

Additional Notes from the Bellator 34 Postfight News Conference:

Rebney on future plans for Bellator’s women’s divisions: “We’ve thought about moving up and potentially doing a higher weight division for women. Probably a superfight for Zoila [Frausto] because we’re not going to be doing women in season number four. A superfight for her and then there’s a high likelihood for a tournament in season number five again.”

Frausto, who won the women’s 115-pound title Thursday, on moving up to 125 pounds: “That was actually the plan. 115 has been really hard to make for me. I’m not naturally a 115-pounder. I’ve had to push my body to get to that, which makes this so great because I’ve come through a lot for this. 125, that’s the perfect weight for me. 120, I can do that just as easy too. So yes, 125 and 120 would be perfect for me.”

Frausto on whether she’d give a rematch to Jessica Aguilar, whom she defeated via a controversial split decision in the 115-pound tournament semifinals: “Definitely. I would love a rematch. That was always the question asked, and I would definitely take a rematch in a heartbeat.”

Frausto on her win Thursday over Megumi Fujii: “My game plan was just to stand up. I guess everybody knew that. Just feeling her out, I kind of knew that my chances were on my feet. When I tagged her a couple of times, I knew that she wasn’t going to be able to take me down. I knew coming into this fight that I was going to be a lot stronger and I just went in there with the confidence to stay on my feet and do what I could.”

Fujii on the first loss of her career: “I wanted to take her to the ground early, but because of Zoila’s strength, it made it difficult for me to take her to the ground and also I wanted to challenge her in her strength … striking. I wanted to challenge myself fighting standup, striking.”

Rebney on Jay Hieron: “He’s a hugely talented welterweight. … He’d be a great addition.”

Alexander Shlemenko on his loss to Hector Lombard: “After today’s fight it would be great to have Hector Lombard as a next opponent.”

Lombard on his win: “I was surprised he survived, but as I said before, I wasn’t the way I always am. Congratulations to him. He went five rounds with me.”