Bellator’s featherweight grand prix will kick off with the entire field on a single card — and a million dollars will be on the line for the winner.
Bellator MMA is diving into the million dollar tournament business. Following in the footsteps of the Professional Fighters League and ROAD FC, the promotion will put a million dollars on the line for the winner of their upcoming featherweight grand prix. Bellator CEO Scott Coker announced the news at the Bellator London press conference Tuesday.
It’s worth noting that Bellator’s welterweight grand prix also has a million dollars on the line, but this is the first confirmation that multiple tournaments would feature the prize. While no names were announced for the featherweight grand prix, Coker confirmed that it would start in October, and air on DAZN, with the first eight fights taking place on a single card.
“In October of this year, we’re going to launch our 16-man featherweight tournament,” he said Tuesday. “It will be a year-long tournament, it will air on DAZN. It will be all the great featherweights in Bellator. So it’ll be 16, they’ll all fight in one night, going down to 8. Then there’ll be a single elimination process.”
Most importantly, the winner gets a shot at the champ, Patricio Freire, who is set to challenge Michael Chandler for the lightweight title later this Spring. “The featherweight champ will walk away with a belt, and a million dollars in prize money,” Coker concluded.
An exact start date for the grand prix was not provided.
