Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix to begin Sept. 29
At a press conference in Manhattan, Bellator MMA president Scott Coker said there would be a 10 man field in the Welterweight Grand Prix, and named nine of them.
Scott Coker puts together awesome tournaments. His Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix was so good UFC president Dana White said he liked it. Now the boss at Bellator, Coker’s heavyweight tournament will choose the promotion’s new champ and is unfolding solidly. Coker’s newest tournament will be a welterweight grand prix, drawing from Bellator’s deepest division, one Coker says is better than the UFC’s.
At a press conference in Manhattan, Coker said there would be a 10 man field. Four fighters will fight to make the final 8. Paul Daley was conspicuously not among the nine fighters named:
•Yaroslav Amosov
•Jon Fitch
•Neiman Gracie
•Andrey Koreshkov
•Lorenz Larkin
•Douglas Lima
•Rory MacDonald
•Michael Page
•Ed Ruth
The tournament will begin on September 29 with a trilogy fight between former champions Douglas Lima vs. Andrey Koreshkov. That event is headlined by welterweight champion Rory MacDonald, who will step up to challenge middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi.
The event will be the first MMA to stream on the $9.99 per month over the top streaming service DAZN, which will begin September 10 with a one-month free trial, and will cost $9.99 monthly thereafter, according to CEO James Rushton. 22 Bellator events will stream on DAZN, although 15 of those will also stream on Paramount. 50 boxing events will also stream. The service will debut 9/10 with boxing heavyweight Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin.