Bellator Kicks Off Season 11 From Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Casino on Friday, September 5th Live On Spike TV

Connecticut's Brennan Ward Battles Bellator Newcomer James Irvin; Main Event To Be Announced In Coming Weeks

Newport Beach, Calif. (May 28, 2014) - Bellator will kick off it's highly anticipated Season 11 on Friday, September 5th as the promotion returns to Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Casino to host Bellator 123 live on Spike TV. The night will feature the return of "The Irish Bad Boy" Brennan Ward as he battles James Irvin in a middleweight feature fight. The night will also feature the start of the Bellator Season 11 Middleweight Tournament. Participants for the eight man field as well as the main event of the evening will be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for Bellator 123 go on sale on Friday June 6th at 10:00am EST and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com or by visiting the Mohegan Sun Box Office. Bellator 123 will broadcast live at 9 p.m. EST/ 8 p.m. CST on Spike TV. The preliminary card will be streamed live and free on Spike.com beginning at 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST.

Ward returns to the Bellator cage after suffering defeat at the hands of reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion Alexander Shlemenko in March of 2014. After storming through the Season 9 Middleweight Tournament with three straight finishes, Ward is looking to get back to his winning ways against Irvin on September 5th.

"It's my time and he had his," Ward proclaimed. "I've been putting in the work and this guy is just in my way to getting back to where I need to be. The Sandman is going to get planked in the fourth minute of the first round, I'm already calling my shot!"

"The Sandman is back," Irvin said. "This is where the road turns for me. I'm back, and fighting under the bright lights again for a huge promotion like Bellator, and have a tough test ahead of me in a guy like Brennan Ward. I know he likes to run his mouth and he's a young guy, but I'm knocking this kid out on my way back to the top."

"It's going to be another incredible night at Mohegan Sun on September 5th," Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "Mohegan Sun has hosted some of the most memorable moments in Bellator history and I couldn't think of a better venue to kick off what will be a huge Season 11 for Bellator. I can't wait to get Brennan back in the cage, our Middleweight Tournament will be stacked, and we are going to open our Season 11 in a huge way on Friday, September 5th."

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA, follow Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney @BjornRebney and check out Bellator on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BellatorMMA

About Bellator MMA

Bellator MMA is the world's largest tournament based Mixed Martial Arts organization. Televised to nearly 500 Million homes worldwide in over 140 countries, Bellator's majority owner is entertainment giant Viacom. In the United States, Bellator can be seen on Spike TV, the MMA television leader. With over 180 world-class athletes under contract, Bellator is home to many of the sport's top mixed martial artists. Bellator's founder & CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment executive with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator's core philosophy is that title shots should be earned, not given. This belief gave rise to Bellator's real sport, tournament-based format, which gives Bellator's tournaments a true playoff feel that keeps the sport true and distances itself from the subjective side of fighting sports found in organizations that utilize a matchmaking/casting formula. Bellator MMA is comprised of an executive team that includes top industry professionals in television production, live event orchestration, fighter development/relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations. Bellator is based in Newport Beach, California.

About Spike TV:

Spike TV is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com.