Bellator President Scott Coker loves grand prix tournaments, and the promotion will put on another one later this year.
After teasing last week to “think smaller,” Coker on Monday said during an appearance on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” that Bellator will host a featherweight grand prix. The tournament is set to kick off in October and will include 16 fighters.
Bellator’s featherweight division is perhaps the promotion’s most stacked division, with champion Patricio Freire leading the pack. Freire is set to move up and challenge Michael Chandler for the lightweight title in May at Bellator 221.
Aside from Freire, there’s talent throughout the weight class with a mix of veterans and rising stars – A.J. McKee, Henry Corrales, Aaron Pico, Darrion Caldwell, Leandro Higo, Emmanuel Sanchez, Sam Sicilia, Tywan Claxton, Adam Boricz, Noad Lahat, and Gaston Bolanos, to name a few.
Coker said he’s interested in doing the entire first round in one night or on back-to-back Friday-Saturday shows like this past weekend with Bellator 215 and 216 both taking place at the same venue.
Last month, Bellator completed its year-long eight-man heavyweight grand prix, with Ryan Bader knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in the finals to become the promotion’s first simultaneous two-division champion.
Still ongoing is the welterweight grand prix, which has one semifinal set between former champion Douglas Lima and Michale Page after Page’s win over Paul Daley over the weekend at Bellator 216. On the other side of the bracket, Neiman Gracie will meet the winner of April’s clash between champion Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch.
Coker has said he’d like to roll out one new grand prix a year for the foreseeable future.
For more on the upcoming Bellator schedule, visit the MMA Rumors section of the site.
