Remember the days when Royce Gracie competed multiple times in one night to claim the top prize in mixed martial arts (MMA)?
Well, it's coming back again. Minus Gracie and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon, of course.
World Series of Fighting (WSOF) President Ali Abdel-Aziz revealed on "The MMA Hour" that WSOF 25 -- which is set to pop off on Nov. 20, 2015, in Seattle, Washington -- will feature a one-night, eight-man Lightweight tournament.
"The winner will fight three times, and it's going to crown a tournament champion. It's going back to the gladiator days. One gladiator fights and he keeps going and going until he achieves his ultimate goal" revealed Aziz via MMA Fighting.
Naturally, the Washington State Department approved of the tournament format.
So who exactly is set to compete for the right to face the winner of division champ Justin Gaethje and Luis Palomino, who will collide in a rematch at WSOF 23 on Sept. 18, 2015, at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona ?
The list of combatants is a follows:
1. Islam Mamedov
2. Mike Ricci
3. Joao Zeferino
4. Rich Patishnock
5. Jorge Patino
6. Brian Cobb
7. LaRue Burley vs. Brian Foster winner
8. TBA
"I think fans should be excited about it, because there's so much MMA out there. People are getting kind of tired, a little bit. There's so many shows," said Aziz.
"It's true. That's good for the hardcore fan, but when you have an eight-man tournament, you want to sit in front of the TV and watch which gladiator is going to win the tournament -- which one is going to wrap his knee and go back into the second round, then is going to ice his eye from swelling and go back and fight this other gladiator and be a champion."
There will be several reserve bouts on the undercard in the event that one of the competitors in the tourney is unable to continue because of injury, exhaustion or other.
As Aziz explained he wanted to provide fight fans something different. It's all part of the promotion's plan to "kick ass" in the upcoming months.
"We just wanted to do something different. World Series of Fighting for the next three months will be kicking ass," predicted the outspoken president. "We'll be putting on these great fight cards and we'll be bringing some big names back and we're building talent."
It sounds like a fun idea, but will it go off without a hitch?