Los Angeles, Calif. – May 21, 2009 – Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that the promotion will hold its Featherweight world championship bout at its tenth event in the 12-event series airing exclusively on ESPN Deportes. Bellator X, featuring the headlining title fight at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on June 5, 2009, is the promotions first world title fight as part of its highly rated series.  Fresh from his win over Estevan Payan at Bellator VI, “knockout of the year” candidate Yahir Reyes will take on Joe “The Hammer” Soto in the first ever Bellator Featherweight world championship bout.  At Bellator VI, Soto handed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace and world number nine ranked Wilson Reis his first-ever loss and earned the right to face Reyes for the title and the $100,000 purse.  The Soto vs. Reyes fight will be the first Bellator world championship title match for what has been a very eventful start for the organization. Over the last month of competition, the tournament has produced some of the most memorable and explosive moments in recent MMA history.

Bellator X will also feature several highly competitive non-tournament fights spanning various weight classes. The night promises to be action-packed and will air exclusively on ESPN Deportes on Saturday, June 6, concluding the first ever Bellator Featherweight tournament.

“The last time both of these tournament finalists entered the cage they shocked the world by upsetting favored opponents and in Yahir’s fight, he shocked the world with a magical KO; that’s one of the best we’ve seen in recent memory,” said Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney.  “In our Featherweight division, our tournament format has proven that if you give great fighters a chance to control their own destiny, they can craft a reality that would have been totally unexpected in a matched world title fight.  Yahir and Joe have both taken this tournament by the throat and made it submit to their tremendous will and heart.  This should be a great, great final.”

Featherweight World Championship Bout:
145 lbs. – Joe Soto (6-0) vs. Yahir Reyes (14-5)

Non-tournament Bouts:
185 lbs. – Bryan Baker (9-1) vs. Matt Horwich (22-12-1)
145 lbs. – Wilson Reis (7-1) vs. Roberto Vargas (6-0)
155 lbs. – Saad Awad (7-2)   vs. Diego Garijo (3-1)
185 lbs. – Gary Padilla (9-4) vs.  Jaime Fletcher (8-5)
205 lbs. – Lamar Jiles (2-2) vs. Nick Moghaddam (3-3)
155 lbs. – Phil Brown (2-1) vs. Israel Giron (9-1)
170 lbs. – Jesse Juarez (10-5) vs. Blas Avena (5-3)

For more information about Bellator Fighting Championships, visit www.bellator.com http://www.bellator.com . For the Spanish language version of the website, visit Espanol.Bellator.com http://espanol.bellator.com . Please contact your local cable provider to learn more about viewing Bellator Fighting Championships on ESPN Deportes.

About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company with offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Bellator’s founders, Bjorn Rebney and Brad Epstein, are experienced fighting sports and entertainment professionals with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes.  Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production (including Rob Beiner, winner of 12 Emmy awards for sports programming), fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.