Wanderlei Silva

By FCF Staff

At a time when Wanderlei Silva continues to criticize the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator has announced that the retired fighter will appear at its pre-fight festivities this weekend.

Bellator 131 is scheduled for Saturday night in San Diego, California, and according to a press release from the promotion, Silva will attend a “kickoff” party this Friday. The event will take place at a Dave and Buster’s, and will also be attended by fellow UFC vets like Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock and Royce Gracie.

“After we saw just an overwhelming response to our Bellator Fan Fest a few weeks ago, we wanted to once again give our fans a chance to be a part of something special and give everyone the opportunity to spend time with a group of fighters that built the sport we all love,” Bellator President Scott Coker said in the official announcement. “We have events taking place all week around the San Diego area as we prepare for the biggest night of fights in company history, and we want everyone to be a part of it.”

The event will be hosted by the Dave and Buster’s location at 2931 Camino Del Rio N, San Diego, CA 92108, beginning at 6:00 PM /PT.

Saturday’s Bellator 131 card will be hosted by San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center and will feature a light-heavyweight bout between Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar.

Interim lightweight champ Will Brooks is also scheduled to fight Michael Chandler for the vacant lightweight title.

Saturday’s event will be broadcast on SPIKE.