The Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix appears to have been set up with the plan to showcase welterweight champion Rory MacDonald in the biggest bouts possible.
The Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix will be opening up with several highly anticipated match-ups when the first round gets underway. The company announced the bracket and the tournament looks poised to give welterweight champion Rory MacDonald an impressive showcase. The opening round will feature the following bouts:
Side one:
Douglas Lima vs. Andrey Koreshkov
Paul Daley vs Michael Page
Side two:
Neiman Gracie vs Ed Ruth
Rory MacDonald vs. Jon Fitch
Bellator announced that MacDonald’s welterweight title will be on the line as he progresses through the tournament which means that Jon Fitch will have a chance to claim the belt in his first fight with the company. Entering Bellator earlier this year as a free agent, Fitch figured to be on the short list for a title shot after a successful debut and the fight with MacDonald figures to be a marquee bout when it does take place.
Assuming he is able to turn away Fitch, MacDonald would be heavily favored in the second round against the winner of Neiman Gracie and Ed Ruth. Both men enter the tournament with six Bellator wins apiece. Ruth has finished five of those bouts by knockout or TKO while Gracie has won five bouts by submission. Both men will be heavily tested as MacDonald – or Fitch for that matter – carry three times the professional experience of Ruth and Gracie.
The other half of the bracket will feature a pair of match-ups featuring exciting strikers. Most notably, Paul Daley and Michael Page will finally settle their rivalry inside the cage as they are scheduled to meet in the first round. The two have traded barbs for the better part of a year and the fight has been eagerly anticipated by hardcore fans. The bracket also looks as if it is set up with the hope of matching up the surging Page with MacDonald in the final next year.
The final bout is the already announced fight between former champions Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov. The men have already split a pair of fights and both men are hoping to use the tournament to spring back to relevancy in the world rankings of the welterweight division. They will compete on September 29 at Bellator 206.
Per Ariel Helwani, welterweights Lorenz Larkin and Yaroslav Amosov are expected to be an alternate bout for the tournament.
Bellator has yet to announce the dates for the majority of the matchups in the tournament. With Rory MacDonald going up to challenge Gegard Mousasi for the middleweight title in September, it is expected that he will not be available to compete in the tournament until late this year or early next year. Bellator President Scott Coker also announced that he plans to have every tournament bout be five rounds as the winner will end as Bellator champion.
Stay tuned to Cagesidepress.com for more news as the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix develops.
