Bellator is keeping their grand prix system right on rolling, and the next one up figures to be among their best ever.
Speaking Wednesday on The MMA Hour, Bellator CEO Scott Coker announced that the promotion would be putting on a lightweight grand prix in 2023.
“If you look at our roster, I think this is the best roster I’ve ever had at Bellator, and it’s taken us about four or five years to get here,” Coker said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids I’m super high on, and we’ve got a lot of good veterans, but if you look at our 155-pound weight class, with [Tofiq] Musayev, and Usman Nurmagomedov, and [Patricky] Pitbull, and Benson Henderson — who is coming off a great win over Peter Queally — I think going into next year, one of the things these guys need to consider is that probably will be our 155-pound tournament next year.
“So some of the fighters might want to stick around and stay a little heavier to try and go after that prize money of $1 million bonus that we give out at the end of the tournament.”
Bellator has run five grand prix over the past few years, but has yet to do one in arguably their most storied division. And while Coker says they have not yet decided who will be the eight fighters guaranteed a spot in the tournament, the promotion has no shortage of options.
“We’re going to get it on and it’s going to be amazing,” Coker said. “I’m telling you, when I saw Musayev fight in Japan in ‘19, and he beat Patricky, I was like, ‘This kid is really good.’ Then we got the opportunity to sign him and Usman. Javier [Mendez, American Kickboxing Academy coach] told me Usman’s going to win the tournament and Javier rarely steers me wrong. But these kids are going to have their hands full.
“I think it’s going to be an amazing tournament. Brent Primus will be in the mix. We haven’t decided who the eight fighters are going to be, but if A.J. [McKee] decides he likes fighting at 155, he’ll definitely get an invitation to step up. And if he wants to go back to 145, that’s fine. But it’s going to be an amazing tournament next year.”
The promotion is currently wrapping up two other ongoing grand prix — the light heavyweight tournament which was delayed due to a no contest in the finals between Corey Anderson and Vadim Nemkov, and the bantamweight grand prix, with the semifinals set to take place later this year.
As such, Coker said they are targeting an early 2023 launch for the lightweight tourney.
“We’re going to finish our light heavyweight tournament in November, the [bantamweight] semifinals in December,” Coker said. “I feel like we want to set this off in February. February would be a good month and the bantamweight tournament [finals] sometime in March.”
The announcement of a lightweight tournament comes at a fortuitous time for Bellator as the former 155-pound champion Eddie Alvarez recently parted ways with ONE Championship, and has stated his openness to return to his old stomping grounds.
Alvarez is a two-time Bellator lightweight champion, having initially won the belt in the promotion’s first ever lightweight tournament final. He lost the belt to Michael Chandler in 2011 but reclaimed the title before leaving the promotion in 2014 to join the UFC.
One of the most accomplished lightweights of all-time, Alvarez could be a huge boost to the eight-man grand prix, and so as the promotion begins to lay the groundwork for next year, Coker says he’s certainly open to the idea.
“You know where this company is going. We have a lot of veterans and a lot of great talent, but we have a lot of young fighters that are up-and-coming,” Coker said. “We’re putting a big investment in this younger talent, so when I thought about Eddie originally I was kind of like, ‘I like the roster where it’s at.’
“But announcing the 155-pound tournament, it would be interesting. It’s worth a conversation. Eddie’s a great guy. … I’m not saying it’s something we would pursue, but it’s at least worth a conversation at this point.”
bumppp
Hell yea I hope they get to resign Eddie for it
Bellator started teasing a lightweight tournament in 2022, and the eight-man lineup finally has been announced.
New champion Usman Nurmagomedov will have to defend his title straight away against ex-UFC and WEC champ Benson Henderson. And former champ Patricky Freire is in the mix – against his brother’s fierce rival, A.J. McKee, as well.
Looking at the rest of the field, how stoked are we about the lineup, which includes Tofiq Musayev, Alexander Shabliy, Sidney Outlaw and Mansour Barnaoui?
The Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix is set to kick off later this year and the full bracket and opening matchups have been unveiled.
Eight of the top lightweights in Bellator will square off for the lightweight belt and a $1 million grand prize. To get fans excited about the action, the promotion has announced the schedule and opening round fights in the tournament.
Check out the opening-round matchups and up-to-date schedule below.
- Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Benson Henderson (Bellator 292, 03/10)
- Tofiq Musayev vs. Alexander Shabliy (Bellator 292, 03/10)
- Sidney Outlaw vs. Mansour Barnaoui (05/12, Bellator Paris)
- AJ McKee vs. Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire (TBD)
Nurmagomedov earned the title by defeating Freire at Bellator 288 last November. He is the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, the former UFC lightweight champion.
Henderson is out to prove that age is just a number after the 39-year-old won back-to-back fights in 2022.
McKee and Freire square off after months of back-and-forth between the two sides. Their fight comes about a year after McKee’s second fight with Patricky’s brother, Patricio.
Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix Bracket Revealed, Fighters Face Off
Watch the fighters, including McKee and Freire, face off below.
Bellator President Scott Coker hasn’t said whether or not the tournament is targeted to finish by the end of the year. The promotion’s last tournament in the bantamweight division has taken over a year to conclude.
We are weeks away from the first fights of the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix as eight fighters compete for divisional supremacy.
ESPN.com first reported Outlaw’s positive test and Primus’ inclusion in the tournament. Mazzulli said Outlaw will also need to submit two to three clean drug tests before his suspension is cleared. He was not aware if Outlaw planned to appeal the result.
Mazzulli added that the remaining competitors confirmed for the Bellator lightweight grand prix were also drug tested and came back negative for banned substances.
Ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM), mimics muscle-building drugs and is banned at all times, per the World Anti-Doping Agency. The compound has been linked to several cases involving tainted supplements; UFC fighters have been able to lessen sanctions by linking their positive drug tests to over-the-counter supplements. Cardarine is classified as a hormone and metabolic modulator that’s been linked to several drug positives in the Olympics. Anastrozole is an estrogen blocker that’s believed to minimize negative side effects of anabolics. All of the drugs are banned at all times.
Outlaw most recently competed this past July at Bellator 283, where he lost via TKO to Tofiq Musayev. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak built after an unsuccessful bid for the lightweight title then held by Michael Chandler.
Primus, who in 2017 beat Chandler to briefly hold the lightweight title before ceding it back six months later, most recently fought this past June, losing via TKO to Alexander Shabliy at Bellator 282. He is 3-2 since his pair of bouts with Chandler.
Former Bellator champion Brent Primus is heading to the lightweight Grand Prix.
The 37-year-old has been out of action since a unanimous decision defeat to Alexander Shabliy last June. That defeat was a brutal one for Primus, as it sent any title shot plans down the drain for the former titleholder. It also helped keep him out of the upcoming lightweight Grand Prix.