Bellator Fighting Championships on Tuesday announced an agreement to televise its second and third seasons live on Fox Sports Net. The deal, which covers 24 weeks in 2010, will bring the tournament-based mixed martial arts promotion to 82 million homes on FSN.

“We’re thrilled to bring Bellator’s brand of MMA to our viewers,” FSN Vice President of Programming David Sussin said in a release. “We believe the quality of the events and the passion of these fighters will resonate with our audience.”

Under a new multi-tiered alliance, Bellator shows will be carried live in primetime by FSN and its regional affiliates, beginning on April 8. Highlights from each event will then be condensed into a 30-minute program, set to air the following Saturday on NBC. In addition, a one-hour highlight show will be carried in Spanish by Telemundo on Saturdays.

Announced by Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, along with executives from FSN and NBC, the television deal provides the promotion with instant credibility and staying power.

“Since our launch earlier this year, there has been an overwhelming demand from MMA fans nationwide for us to broadcast our events live and through a widely available platform,” Rebney said. “We are thrilled to have signed this groundbreaking agreement with Fox Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo, which will bring our unique and exciting brand of tournament-based MMA events to a dramatically expanded audience of both English- and Spanish-speaking fans.”

Bellator Season 2 premieres April 8 and runs for 12 successive weeks. Season 3 kicks off Aug. 12 and also covers for 12 consecutive weeks. Each season will adhere to Bellator’s tournament format, under which fighters in each of the promotion’s weight classes determine their own fate to become champion or No. 1 contender.

“Mixed martial arts has established its position by becoming one of the fastest-growing sports,” NBC Universal Executive Vice President Jerry Petry said. “Bellator -- and its real sport tournament format -- has proven it can deliver some of the finest and most intense action on broadcast television.”

Bellator’s current crop of champions includes unbeaten featherweight Joe Soto, world-ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez and Cuban middleweight Hector Lombard.