· Olympic Medalist Alexis Vila Booked For Bellator Bantamweight Tournament

Bellator’s season five bantamweight tournament heats up as the promotion adds Cuban Olympic wrestler and undefeated mixed martial artist Alexis “The Exorcist” Vila to an already impressive bracket. Making his Bellator debut, Villa joins a field of top-level tournament participants already confirmed including Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas, Chase “The Rage” Beebe, Marcos “Loro” Galvao, Luis "Betao" Nogueira, Ed “Wild” West, and Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Warren.

The Cuban-born fighter began his combat sport career as a wrestler where he quickly piled up multiple accomplishments. With a Pan American Games gold medal, a silver and two golds at the World Championships, and a bronze medal freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Olympic Games, Vila immediately parlayed his success into coaching collegiate wrestling where he instructed the likes of UFC veterans Rashad Evans and Gray Maynard at Michigan State.

Training out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., Vila is the fourth Olympian fighting under the Bellator banner, joining two Olympic judokas in Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard and season four welterweight tournament finalist Rick Hawn, and an Olympic freestyle wrestler in Welterweight Champion Ben Askren.

“With fighters like Joe Warren, Eduardo Dantas, Marcos Galvao, Chase Beebe, Luis, Ed and now Alexis, this bantamweight tournament is absolutely loaded next season.” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney stated regarding the signing. “Vila is a wrestling Olympian that knocks his opponents out, and that makes him a huge problem for anyone he fights.”

Vila (9-0) remains unbeaten in his transition to MMA. He has proven that he is just as dangerous on the feet than he is on the ground. Of Vila’s nine wins, he has gone to decision once. His record boasts five technical knockouts, one knockout and two submission victories.

“The Exorcist” last competed at Mixed Fighting Alliance’s “MFA: New Generation 4” in February where he ran through Lewis McKenzie in the second round, picking up the technical knockout win—his fourth such finish in as many fights.

Having yet to face any significant adversity in his career thus far, Vila is confident that he is the fighter to beat in this tournament, and the belt eventually going around his waist is simply a foregone conclusion.

“I'm not worried about any of the guys I'm going to fight in the future,” Vila remarked. “When they fight me, they're going to find out that it's a different story. I'm not the same guys they've fought before.”

“When they feel how strong I am and how strong I punch, they're going to change their mind really fast.” he continued. “So I'm not worried about Joe Warren, or Zack Makovsky, or any of these guys—they have to worry about me.”