Bellator announces featherweight grand prix matchups
Patricio "Pitbull" Freire celebrates his win over Michael Chandler for the lightweight title at Bellator 221 on May 11, 2019, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. Credit: Bellator MMA/Lucas Noonan
A 145-pound Bellator fighter will find himself $1 million richer come the end of their featherweight World Grand Prix.
The tournament, featuring 16 fighters announced Monday, is scheduled to start after the summer. The first round of the featherweight grand prix will take place over two events: Bellator 226 on Sept. 7 in San Jose, California, and Bellator 228 on Sept. 28 in Inglewood.
As has been the case with Bellator's welterweight grand prix, the Bellator featherweight title will move along through the tournament. Patricio "Pitbull" Freire will defend his title in the opening round of the grand prix against Juan Archuleta, with the winner moving on to defend that title in the quarterfinals, and so on.
The opening round of fights will be three-round bouts, excluding the title fight. All bouts in the quarterfinals and beyond will be five-round bouts.
Bellator 226, Sept. 7
Daniel Straus (26-8) vs. Derek Campos (19-9)
Pat Curran (23-8) vs. Adam Borics (13-0)
Emmanuel Sanchez (18-4) vs. Tywan Claxton (5-0)
Sam Sicilia (16-9) vs. Pedro Carvalho (10-3)
Bellator 228, Sept. 28
Champion Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (29-4) vs. Juan Archuleta (23-1)
Darrion Caldwell (13-3) vs. Henry Corrales (17-3)
Daniel Weichel (39-11) vs. Saul Rogers (13-2)
A.J. McKee (14-0) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (28-9-1, 1 NC)
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
