CHICAGO, Ill. (April 18, 2011) — Bellator Fighting Championships continues to add to its already stacked Atlantic City fight card, this time adding a Season 5 welterweight tournament qualifier fight between former Bellator Welterweight World Champion Lyman “Cyborg” Good and Season 2 tournament finalist Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle. Headlining the May 14th show will be a non-title Super Fight featuring reigning Bellator World Middleweight Champion and former Judo Olympian Hector Lombard against dangerous Hawaiian UFC veteran Falaniko Vitale. And, rounding out the nights stacked card is a Lightweight Tournament Championship fight between Brazilian Knockout artist Patricky Pitbull and undefeated NCAA Champion Mike Chandler.
“Good vs. Hornbuckle is a fight a lot of MMA fans, myself included, have wanted to see for quite some time,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “These two guys have Bellator in their blood, and on May 14th one will move into our next Tournament and one will go home. This promises to be a great fight on May 14th at Caesars.”
Coming off a tough split decision loss at the hands of undefeated Judo Olympian Rick Hawn in the Bellator Season 4 Welterweight Tournament Semifinals, the explosive Good was quick to give Hawn all the credit for the impressive victory, but also admitted he wasn’t fully prepared for his Bellator 39 fight.
“A lot of people didn’t know I had about a two week layoff before my fight with Rick because I got sick,” said a frustrated Good. “90 percent of a fight is always mental, and when I got in the cage, it never really felt like it was my fight.”
Good now looks to return to his winning ways as he collides with Hornbuckle, who himself is coming off a rare loss to Brent Weedman by unanimous decision at Bellator 35. While the loss is still upsetting to Hornbuckle, “The Handler” plans to unleash a new attack against the former champion.
“There’s no excuse for my loss to Brent Weedman,” said Hornbuckle. “It’s my fault for not pulling the trigger. I can only be mad at myself for not taking the opportunity to finish the fight. No more of that. This fight with Lyman [Good], the proof will be in the pudding – mark my words. Just watch, as soon as that bell rings, I’m going to be sprinting dead at him and I’m going to put my knee dead in his face.”
The strong words from Hornbuckle shouldn’t be a surprise, as the opportunity to fight Good has always been on his mind.
“My original goal when I first signed with Bellator was to fight Lyman Good,” said Hornbuckle. “Lyman Good has never left my radar. Stylistically, physically and mentally – we both share the same attributes that’s going to make this a “Fight of the Year” nomination.”
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