Bellator Kicks Off Welterweight Tournament on Jan 24, Full Brackets Revealed

Bellator will kick off their next $100,000 welterweight tournament on Jan 24 with several familiar names in the field including Douglas Lima and Ben Saunders.

The tournament details were released by the promotion on Wednesday.

Bellator’s latest welterweight tournament will feature 8 fighters all vying to get a shot at current champion Ben Askren. One name absent fromt eh list of course is former UFC and Strikeforce contender Paul Daley, who is still dealing with visa issues and cannot travel to the United States currently.

On one side of the bracket, former DREAM champion Marius Zaromskis faces Bellator tournament regular Brent Weedman, while early favorite Douglas Lima draws Michail Tsarev.

The other side of the tournament will see Jose Gomes take on Raul Amaya, while former UFC welterweight Ben Saunders faces off with Koffi Adzitso.

“From top to bottom, our welterweight division has a collection of pure finishers that have put on some wildly entertaining fights,” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “With a Welterweight World Title fight, the debut of King Mo and a stacked welterweight tournament, January 24th is going to be a huge night from WinStar World Casino.”

All four tournament kick off fights will take place as part of the Bellator show on Jan 24, which airs live on Spike TV.