Bellator Season 6: Welterweights at a glance
Ben Saunders, left, made it to the finals of Bellator's Season 5 welterweight tournament and returns for Season 6. Credit: Bellator
Bellator's Season 6 welterweight tournament begins this Friday at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. The fights will air live on MTV 2 at 8 p.m. ET. Here's a glance at the eight fighters in the tournament.
RAUL AMAYA
Record: 9-0
Bellator history: None
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Ben Saunders
Career note: All nine of Amaya’s wins have come by finish (five submissions).
KARL AMOUSSOU
Record: 13-4
Bellator history: 1-1
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Chris Lozano
Career note: Amoussou went 6-2 in M-1 events and has fought for Dream and Strikeforce.
BRYAN BAKER
Record: 16-3
Bellator history: 6-2
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Carlos Pereira
Career note: Baker is a survivor of Leukemia and continues to fight. He holds notable wins of Joe Riggs and Jeremy Horn.
CHRIS LOZANO
Record: 9-2
Bellator history: 2-2
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Karl Amoussou
Career note: Lozano has wins over Yoshiyuki Yoshida and Brent Weedman in Bellator and losses to Lyman Good and Douglas Lima. Of his nine career wins, seven have been by KO/TKO.
CARLOS PERIERA
Record: 33-9
Bellator history: None
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Bryan Baker
Career note: A Brazilian fighter, Pereira has 22 wins by KO/TKO. His two most notable opponents -- Gleison Tibau and Thiago Alves -- both beat him. Of course, that was in 2004 and 2003, respectively.
DAVID RICKELS
Record: 9-0
Bellator history: 3-0
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Jordan Smith
Career note: Four of his six submissions happened in the first round.
Record: 12-4
Bellator history: 3-1, lost in Season 5 tournament final
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. Raul Amaya
Career note: A UFC veteran with powerful leg strikes, Saunders has a notable win over Marcus Davis and 11 career finishes (six KO/TKO).
JORDAN SMITH
Record: 17-2-1
Bellator history: None.
Next fight: Bellator 63, March 30 vs. David Rickels
Career note: Smith replaced Brian Foster, who was medically cleared to fight, on March 22, giving him extremely short notice. Seven of Smith's wins have come by KO/TKO and seven have been by submission. He holds a win over UFC veteran Kayo Parisyan.
