Bellator Signs Wrestling Phenom Shawn Bunch
By Jamie McAllister
Bellator signs wrestler Shawn Bunch the news comes directly from Bellator.com
Bellator Fighting Championships have agreed terms with decorated amateur wrestler Shawn Bunch. The former Olympic qualifier is now turning his attention solely toward Mixed Martial Arts and a future Bellator Bantamweight tournament.
“I’ve had my sights set on Bellator for a long time,”
“While I’ve been training in MMA for over four years, I’ve never been able to fully focus on the sport with my wrestling obligations. After watching guys like Ben Askren and King Mo, guys I really look up to in this sport have success, I knew the time was right to make the move to Bellator.”
Bunch is one of the founding members of Team Thirsty and has trained alongside the likes of Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren, Gray Maynard, Daniel Cormier and of course, King Mo Lawal.
King Mo commented to Bellator on the signing of Bunch.
“Shawn is one of the best athletes I’ve been around, and he isn’t to be played with!”
“Shawn has been at the top of everything he has competed in, and MMA won’t be much different. He lives off of hard work and dedication, and I expect him to be a Bellator Champion.”
Ben Askren also had his say on Bunch signing.
“The best way to describe Shawn is just explosive and dynamic,”
“I’ve traveled the world with Shawn competing together in wrestling competitions, and know what kind of competitor he is. He’ll make an incredible addition to the Bellator family, and I’m excited to see what he brings to the cage.”
Bunch is currently conducting his training at American Kickboxing Academy and looking to improve his skill set before he makes his Bellator debut.
“For MMA fans that aren’t familiar with me, get ready,” Bunch said. “I bring an incredibly fast and explosive game to the table, and I’m just ready to start this new chapter in my life. I can’t wait to get into the cage and get it going.”
“Wrestlers like Askren, Warren, Konrad, Chandler and soon King Mo have had great impact at Bellator, and I expect nothing less with Shawn,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Shawn brings a resume in combat sport and a level of explosiveness to MMA that is hard to match. I can’t wait to watch him develop as part of the Bellator family.”
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Read More: Bellator (News), MMA (News), UFC (News)
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About the Author
Jamie McAllister
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Get Ready Boys he is gonna beat up a “Bunch” of weak strikers and the boxing is looooking greeeeeeeat!!!! HooRah….The Wrestling Champ Era is among us and taking over!!!
Nice ! This dude just missed out on US team for London interesting to see how he does in MMA !
Yah I watched that match between him and Scott. Awesome. He has good boxing too so I believe he will dominate most at Bellator.
professional camcorder reviews on október 2nd, 2011 at 8:24 Couldn´t be written any kind of far better. Reading that post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I can forward this article to him. Really certain he definitely will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah article says he’s been in and around MMA for like four years interested in seeing him compete …….. Bellator is full of high quality wrestlers turned MMA fighters think guys like Chandler & Askren would make an impact in UFC !
Yah, I do. Chandler and Askren would definitely beat up the 10 and below easily. The top guys though have good defensive wrestling as well and have really good stand-up. So, I see these guys really needing to work on their boxing like GSP and then they will beat the top guys. But there are a whole batch of high school, college and recent college wrestlers that have been interested in mma in the last 6 years as a way to make a good living that are working on their boxing. I personally know 2 guys under the radar that could be UFC champs in the next 4 years. These guys are All Americans and have even better boxing. The wrestling era is just in its infancy and we will see dominance in the next 5 years. A good boxer with world class wrestling will beat anybody 9x out of 10. Whereas a world champion boxer has NO chance in an mma fight without wrestling.
this is why zuffa doesn’t use strikeforce as a farm system why when fighters only fight Bellator to build hype and then go to the real promotion
We’ll see. Not so familiially familiar with this guy. Lets see what he can do. He’d better bring it hard core for suure.
Will it ever happen?the ufc use to have super fights.soeone like gsp go up and fight ah silva?or mabe silva go up and fight bones jones