Bellator LXI took place on March 16, 2012 at Horseshoe Riverdome in Bossier City, Louisiana. Background The event was to feature the rematch between season-five heavyweight tournament finalists Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos. Prindle and Santos met in the finals of Bellator's season-five heavyweight tourney, but the bout was ruled a no-contest when Santos inexplicably kicked a downed Prindle in the groin. However, on March 15, Bellator announced the fight had been pushed back a week to Bellator 62 due to Prindle having "flu-like symptoms." This event marked the first time that Bellator Fighting Championships aired in Brazil on TV Esporte Interativo.

Bellator LXVI took place on April 20, 2012 at I-X Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The event was distributed live in prime time by MTV2.