Unbeaten Carpenter Official for Bellator Light Heavyweight Draw

Carpenter’s participation in the competition was first reported by Sherdog.com in December and was confirmed by the promotion Tuesday. He joins Daniel Gracie, Nik Fekete, Chris Davis and D.J. Linderman on the list of official tournament combatants. A release announcing Raphael Davis’ involvement in the tournament is expected shortly.

All four light heavyweight tournament quarterfinals are expected to be held at the to-be-announced Bellator 38, which will likely go down March 26. The event’s location and venue, as well as the first-round matchups, are currently unknown.

The winner of the light heavyweight bracket will become Bellator’s inaugural 205-pound champion and will be awarded $100,000 in total pay. The promotion kicks off its upcoming fourth season from the Tachi Palace Hotel and Resort with Bellator 35 on March 5. The upcoming season will be broadcast live on MTV2 on Saturdays.

A product of Philadelphia’s Balance Studios, Carpenter has racked up a perfect 6-0 record since turning pro in 2005. Carpenter made his Bellator debut in October, earning a split decision victory over Jamal Patterson. A pupil of Phil and Ricardo Migliarese, Carpenter has finished half of his career victims by submission.

“When I started looking at Bellator and I saw the list of champions and tournament winners, it’s really impressive,” Carpenter stated in a release. “Once you hit that championship level in Bellator, you’re in there with guys like Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard, Ben Askren, Cole Konrad and Zach Makovsky. It would be an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence with those guys.”