The bracket for Bellator’s upcoming welterweight grand prix has been revealed, paving the way for the tournament to start later this year.
Bellator officials announced the opening-round matchups today on Instagram, which included Paul Daley, whose participation had been rumored but also was in flux while he worked out contract issues.
On one side of the bracket, former champions Andrey Koreshkov (20-2 MMA, 11-2 BMMA) and Douglas Lima (29-7 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) will meet Sept. 29 at Bellator 206. The winner of that fight will take on the winner of Daley (40-16-2 MMA, 6-3 BMMA) vs. Michael Page (13-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), a long-discussed grudge match that appears finally will come to fruition. A date for that bout has not been revealed.
On the other side of the bracket, unbeatens Neiman Gracie (8-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and Ed Ruth (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) will fight, as will former WSOF champion Jon Fitch (31-7-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and current Bellator champ Rory MacDonald (20-4 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) – with MacDonald’s title on the line. Dates for those fights will be announced later.
Yaroslav Amasov (20-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and Lorenz Larkin (19-7 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) will fight each other in an alternate bout, with the winner available to step into the eight-man bracket if necessary.
All tournament bouts will be five rounds, regardless of title-fight status. And starting with MacDonald vs. Fitch, the title will be on the line each time the winner of that fight moves through the tournament.
Bellator’s welterweight tournament was announced earlier this year following the announcement of its new streaming deal with DAZN to put events on the digital network. DAZN launches Sept. 10 and will come at a price of $9.99 per month. The platform plans to have 70 live sporting events annually, including 55 that will be exclusive to the network. The platform will have no annual subscription option – just monthly – and is planning a 30-day free trial before startup with a no-cancellation penalty.
The competition assembles a powerhouse of talent at 170 pounds, with four of the nine participants ranked in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings. MacDonald is No. 3, Lima No. 10, Larkin No. 11, and Koreshkov No. 13.
Koreshkov has back-to-back wins since losing the welterweight title at Bellator 164. At Bellator 182, he knocked out Chidi Njokuani in the first round in a fight that saw Njokuani come in four pounds heavy. At Bellator 203 in July, he knocked out Vaso Bakocevic in 66 seconds with spinning back kick in Rome. He has won eight of his past nine overall.
Lima had three straight wins before his loss to MacDonald at Bellator 192. He won the welterweight title in 2014 with a TKO of Rick Hawn, but lost it to Koreshkov 15 months later. After a win over Paul Daley, he knocked out Koreshkov in their rematch at Bellator 164 to get the belt back, then defended it at Bellator NYC with a unanimous decision over Larkin.
Page, a 31-year-old Brit, continues to assert himself as one of Bellator’s biggest stars. In May in front of his home fans in London, he punched David Rickels hard enough to make him quit early in the second round. Seven of his nine Bellator wins have come by stoppage, and he’s been to a decision just twice in his career.
Daley has alternated wins and losses his past six fightsHe had a five-fight winning streak snapped by Lima at Bellator 158 a little more than two years ago, but rebounded with a highlight-reel flying-knee knockout of Brennan Ward at Bellator 170. He lost to MacDonald in MacDonald’s Bellator debut by second-round submission, but bounced back to knock out Larkin at Bellator 183. In May, though, he dropped a decision to Fitch at Bellator 199.
Gracie stayed perfect in April when he submitted Javier Torres at Bellator 198. Seven of the first eight wins of his career have come by submission. But now the names of the opponents in front of him officially will move to the next level of competition after victories over the likes of Rudy Bears, Dave Marfone and Zak Bucia.
Ruth was a three-time national wrestling champion at Penn State before signing with Bellator in 2015. He made his pro debut in November 2016 and has five of his first six wins by knockout. In June, he stopped Andy Murad in the second round at Bellator 201.
Fitch, a former UFC title challenger and former WSOF champion, came to Bellator earlier this year after his 40th birthday. He took a decision from Daley at Bellator 199 in May, giving him five straight wins and victories in seven of his past eight overall.
MacDonald is expected to have his fight with Fitch in February after facing off with middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi in a title fight at Bellator 206. He won the welterweight title in his second fight with the promotion in January when he took a decision from Lima. In his promotional debut, he submitted Paul Daley in the second round in May 2017.
For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
