Bellator have unveiled the four match-ups that will comprise the quarter-finals of their star-studded welterweight grand-prix, which is set to get underway on September 29th.
That date will feature the first quarter-final bout between two former 170lb titleholders Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov.
This will mark the trilogy fight between the two, with their first bout having ended in a decision win for Koreshkov to claim the title back in 2015, while a year later Lima won it back after KO’ing his rival in the third round.
Elsewhere on the quarter-final bracket, there’s a clash of bitter UK rivals as high-level strikers Paul Daley and Michael ‘Venom’ Page finally get a chance to settle their differences in the cage.
Meanwhile, current welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will go up against another former UFC fighter in Jon Fitch, and a victory for Fitch would see him become the new titleholder.
In the final bout of the quarter-finals, Neiman Gracie will look to extend his winning record to 9-0 when he goes up against former NCAA wrestling champion Ed Ruth, who is 6-0 so far in his own MMA career.
The winners of Douglas Lima vs. Andrey Korshkov and Paul Daley vs. Michael Page will then compete against each other in one side of the semi-finals bracket, as will the winners of Rory Macdonald vs Jon Fitch and Neiman Gracie vs. Ed Ruth on the other.
