Spike Sports to Present Action-Packed Weekend of Combat Sports This August

By: Jul. 18, 2016
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The most action-packed, hardest-hitting weekend in sports this summer will be not be in Rio - but in Anaheim - as SPIKE Sports presents two world-class events on back-to-back nights. Bellator MMA's Benson Henderson (23-6) and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (25-3), two of the most exciting mixed martial arts fighters in the world, do battle on Friday, August 26 (10:00pm-12:00am ET/PT). The action continues the next day with Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (33-4-1) taking on David Emanuel Peralta (25-2-1) on Saturday, August 27 (9:00-11:00pm ET/PT). Both events will emanate from Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

Benson Henderson has fought and beaten many of the best fighters in the world. His impressive resume includes victories over: Frankie Edgar, Donald Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, Nate Diaz, Jim Miller and Bellator's Josh Thomson. But "Smooth" has never faced an angry "Pitbull" in one of the most important fights of his life.

Patricio "Pitbull" Freiere is a former featherweight world champion who is stepping up to lightweight in the biggest challenge of his decorated career. In a Shakespearean twist, a win over Henderson would put him in line for a title shot against recently crowned 155-pound champion Michael Chandler, who scored a brutal KNOCKOUT over Patricio's brother to secure the division's crown. But to avenge his brother's loss, he must first defeat the highly-regarded "Bendo."

Henderson is also in need of a big win as his recent Bellator debut was spoiled by welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov. The hard-hitting Russian scored a unanimous decision victory in a five-round brawl against Henderson this past April at "Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson."

Robert Guerrero is among the biggest names in boxing today, having fought the sport's marquee names like Floyd Mayweather. A former world champion in multiple weight classes, he owns signature victories over Andre Berto and Joel Casamayor. But now Guerrero is on a quest to return to the top of the welterweight division beginning with this matchup on August 27. He must defeat the hard-hitting Argentinian slugger David Emanuel Peralta to see his dreams of sitting atop the division realized once again.

The tripleheader also features all-action slugger Alfredo Angulo(24-5) taking on battle-tested Freddy Hernandez (33-8) in a battle of Mexican brawlers. A fan favorite in Southern California, Angulo enters this fight coming off of two KNOCKOUT victories and he will look to make it three in a row when he steps into the ring on August 27. A veteran of many exciting 154-pound contests, Angulo is looking to continue to make noise in the middleweight division against Hernandez, who has won his last three fights heading into this showdown.

Rounding out the night of televised fights is 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (18-0) putting his undefeated record on the lineagainst the Bronx's Steve Martinez (16-2). Fighting out of Cleveland, Gausha has risen up the rankings with five victories in 2015 and a seventh round stoppage of Orlando Lora in April. Now he will test himself against the dangerous Martinez, who has recorded knockouts in 13 of his 16 victories.

Presale tickets for "Bellator 160: Henderson vs Pitbull" go on sale exclusively for Bellator Nation on Thursday, July 21. Tickets for the general public go on sale on Friday, July 22. Ticket prices start at $30 and are available at Ticketmaster and The Honda Center box office.

Tickets for the August 27 event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions, are priced at $31, $58, $108 and $203, plus applicable fees, and are on sale Wednesday, July 20. Tickets are available via ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster retail locations or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available at the Honda Center Box Office

About Spike:

SPIKE 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's Internet address is www.spike.com.

For more information visit www.premierboxingchampions.com, www.spike.com/shows/premier-boxing-champions, follow on Twitter @PremierBoxing.

Image courtesy of Spike



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