Bellator MMA announces 16-man, $1 million Featherweight Grand Prix tournament

Bellator MMA held a press conference earlier this week to formally announce its upcoming event at SSE Arena in London, England, on June 22, 2019, which will feature the long-awaited title defense of Middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi, against Rafael Lovato Jr.

That’s not all Bellator had to announce, though.

MMAFighting.com was first to report that Bellator will launch a 16-man Featherweight Grand Prix tournament that will begin in October. The entire first round of eight fights will take place on one card at a date and venue yet to be determined.

During the press conference, company President Scott Coker also revealed that the winner of the tournament would receive a $1 million prize (and presumably a bottle of champagne from Curtis Jackson). Coker would not, however, confirm that 145-pound champion, Patricio Freire, would compete in the tournament because “Pitbull” is currently busy preparing for a move up to Lightweight to challenge Michael Chandler for his title.

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