Bellator Lightweight World Championship competitor Carey Vanier is a former high school and collegiate wrestling star who had been forced to put his dreams of glory on hold to provide for his family. Fortunately for Vanier, the opportunity to rise to the level of a champion has returned by way of Bellator’s upcoming 155 lbs. tournament and this time he is taking all of the necessary steps to capture his dream.

The 28-year old Vanier was born and raised in Minnesota, where he finished sixth at the state wrestling finals before moving on to compete at Ridgewater College where he was eventually named an All-American. After graduating, though, he made the decision to put his fighting dreams on the back burner in order to support his young son, Carey Jr. He took a job at the local Best Buy and worked his way up the ranks until he was named store manager. Vanier never lost his passion for the fight game, though, and continued to train and compete part time.

Eventually, though, he realized that MMA was his true calling and he quit his job to train full-time in boxing, Muay-Thai and Jiu-Jitsu. This past November, he was invited to train with Donald “Cowboy” Cerone at the prominent MMA trainer Greg Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, where he has stayed ever since.

Vanier will make his Bellator tournament debut when the tournament gets underway in early April 2010. He will face off against some of the highest caliber competition in the 155 lbs. division of the tournament for the chance to emerge as the No. 1 contender and enter a title match against current Bellator Featherweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.