Bellator Fighting Championships kicks off its seventh season this week. Officials are excited about the final 12-week run on MTV2, but they’re also looking ahead to a move to the larger Spike TV next year.

This season brings an influx of Russian talent thanks to Bellator’s continued international expansion. Russian fighters Andrey Koreshkov and Alexander Sarnavskiy boast undefeated records and train with two-time Bellator tourney champ Alexander Shlemenko, who is also Russian. Both fighters have been featured prominently by state-run Russia 2, a new broadcast partner that helps put Bellator programming in 87 countries.

“Russia is going to be the new Brazil for Bellator,” said Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney.

“Bellator has gotten bigger, and the Spike TV alliance and the Viacom acquisition have opened up a lot of doors with us. With the demise of the WECs and Afflictions, and with all the troubles that Strikeforce is having, there are less and less alternatives.

“Now there are only two. There’s still a huge number of world-class fighters around the world who are looking for a place with huge television alliances to ply their trade.”

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