Bellator Season 5 Begins with Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinals at Bellator 49

The fifth season of the Bellator Fighting Championships is set to jump off on MTV2 beginning Sept. 10 from Caesars Atlantic City in New Jersey. The promotion’s welterweight tournament quarterfinals will be featured at Bellator 49, as well as some local talent to complete the card.

“It’s great to see the high quality of fighters on our bouts not scheduled for television,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “If you’re an MMA fan and coming to the Caesars Atlantic City event, don’t come late, because these fights prior to the nationally/internationally televised show should be explosive, featuring some spectacular talent.”

In the night fights, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Alexandre Bezerra will take on East Coast prospect Scott Heckman in a featherweight match-up. Bezerra is 2-0 in the Bellator cage and will look to continue his success when he meets Heckman, a fighter who has won several titles in the regional ranks.

Kenny Foster and former Ultimate Fighter cast member Andy Main will also meet in a featherweight affair. Foster is coming off a loss to Bellator season four featherweight finalist Daniel Straus, while Main is making his Bellator debut after working the smaller fight circuits.

Heavyweights will meet in the Bellator cage when Azunna Anyanwu meets J.A. Dudley. Anyanwu, who goes by the nickname “Zu,” is undefeated and looks to stay that way against a fighter in Dudley who earned his way into the promotion through a recent open tryout in Cherry Hill, N.J..

Brylan Van Artsdalen, a winner of five straight fights, will meet Joel Roberts. Roberts, like J.A. Dudley, earned his way into Bellator through a recent tryout and is making his debut in the organization.

Tickets are currently on sale and can be found on Ticketmaster.com and Bellator.com.

Check out MMAWeekly.com’s Rumors section for more Bellator 49 and other fight card news and updates.

For more UFC and MMA news, follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.