Press Conference Alert
1:30pm, Friday, April 9, 2010 at Monroe City Hall,
400 Lee Joyner Expressway

Bellator Fighting Championships returns to Monroe for Bellator 18 on May 13.

Mayor Jamie Mayo and the Monroe City Council are pleased to announce a formal press conference will be held 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 9th to announce the Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, La., will play host to Bellator Fighting Championships again this spring when the promotion returns to Northern Louisiana for Bellator 18 on May 13. Tickets for the event went on sale Thursday, April 1 at Ticketmaster.com and at the Monroe Civic Center box office. This year's battle will be televised LIVE on Fox Sports Net, and replayed on NBC and Telemundo -- reaching over 256 million viewers. Previews of the tournament are airing now on Fox Sports Network.

“We are thrilled to be returning to Monroe for our May 13 event,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “The Monroe Civic Center, the City of Monroe, Mayor Mayo and Keeppunching Entertainment were tremendous partners for us in Season 1 and we’re looking forward to putting on another exceptional show to a packed house in one of the loudest, most exciting venues we visited last year." << MORE >>

Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney Excited to Return to Northern Louisiana’s Monroe Civic Center for NBC, FOX Sports Net event

When Bellator Fighting Championships announced in October that its second season would be broadcast to hundreds of millions of homes nationwide on FOX Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo, Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney was quickly approached with opportunities to bring events to major markets throughout the U.S., including Boston, Chicago, Kansas City and Miami.

But Rebney, a 20-year veteran of the fighting sports industry, had his mind set on a large-scale return to the Monroe Civic Center in Northern Louisiana.

During Bellator’s highly successful first season, Bellator hosted one of its most well-received events at the Civic Center, drawing a near sell-out crowd to watch top fighters including eventual World Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard, featherweight Shad Lierley and middleweight Jared Hess.

<< MORE >>

Bellator Fighting Championships returns to Monroe, LA., for Bellator 18 on May 13

CHICAGO — The Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, La., will play host to Bellator Fighting Championships again this spring when the promotion returns to Northern Louisiana for Bellator 18 on May 13th.

Tickets for the event go on sale Thursday, April 1st at Ticketmaster.com and at the Monroe Civic Center box office.

“We are thrilled to be returning to Monroe for our May 13th event,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “The Monroe Civic Center, the City of Monroe, Mayor Mayo and Keep Punching Entertainment were tremendous partners for us in Season 1 and we’re looking forward to putting on another exceptional show to a packed house in one of the loudest, most exciting venues we visited last year.”

The Main Event for the May 13th Monroe show will be a “Super Fight” matchup between reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard and 19-1 former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho who, as recently as 14 months ago, was the No. 2-ranked middleweight in the world.