Ed Ruth to fight for slot in Bellator welterweight grand prix

Three-time Div I national wrestling champ Ed Ruth pushed his perfect MMA record to 6-0 on Friday, with a Round 2 TKO over Andy Murad at Bellator 201. It was Ruth’s promotional debut at welterweight, and at the post-fight press conference, the 27-year-old now wants into the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix.

I think that tonight has put me in the running, said Ruth to Mike Bohn and John Morgan for MMAjunkie. Hopefully I’m going to be in it. I will not say no to that. You jump into this sport, who are you looking to fight? You’re not just going to coast along. You’ve got to look toward the big guys. These are the guys that got me in it, so of course I want to fight those guys that got me in it.

Bellator CEO Scott Coker would love to see Ruth in the GP, but wants him to fight his way in, via one more bout vs. a relevant welterweight on the roster.

Let me tell you, that guy is going to be a force to be reckoned with, said Coker. What we’re going to do is we’ll find somebody that is ready to step into the tournament, they can have one more fight … Maybe in August, and whoever wins the fight between Ed and the fighter, they’ll fight their way into the slot.

The GP launches September 29. While the bracket has not been set, two obvious first round fights are Douglas Lima vs. Andrey Koreshkov and Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Paul Daley. And of course there is Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald, who steps up to fight middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi’s belt on September 29.

I want to fight them all, said Ruth. If it’s Rory, then it’s Rory. If it’s Paul Daley, it’s Paul Daley. If it’s Lima, it’s Lima. If it’s ‘MVP’ – anybody it is. If you want to be the best fighter, you’ve got to be the best fighter, and the best fighter beats all the fighters.