Although it has been delayed a while, the Bellator MMA featherweight grand prix will be back
sooner than most expect.
Bellator’s 145-pound tournament was put on hold this past March
after the promotion was forced to cancel events due to the Covid-19
pandemic. The organization confirmed to Sherdog today that the
tournament will start back up in November with a trio of major
bouts.
Bellator lightweight and featherweight champion Patricio
Freire (30-4) will defend his 145-pound belt against Pedro
Carvalho (11-3) in a quarterfinal matchup of the tournament.
The scrap will headline
Bellator 252, which will take place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in
Uncasville, Connecticut, on Nov. 12. The two were originally slated
to do battle back at Bellator 241 this past March, but the entire
event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Freire reached the quarterfinals after besting current Bellator
bantamweight champion Juan
Archuleta. “Pitbull” took a unanimous decision in the opening
round of the tournament in the Bellator 228 main event in September
2019. His opponent Carvalho advanced in tourney by tapping out
Sam
Sicilia in the round of 16, where “The Game” submitted the
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran in the
second round.
The other remaining quarterfinal match of Daniel
Weichel vs. Emmanuel
Sanchez – also scheduled for the ill-fated Bellator 241 card –
will once again serve as a co-main event for the Freire-Carvalho
showdown. The two combatants originally met at Bellator 159 in July
2016, and Weichel captured a very narrow decision over Sanchez.
Both fighters picked up opening round victories to advance to the
semi-finals at Bellator 228, with Weichel beating Saul Rogers
and Emmanuel
Sanchez dispatching Tywan
Claxton.
The pace of the tournament won’t slow down at all, as the
semifinals will kick off just one week later. Topping Bellator 253
on Nov. 19, which also takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena, is a
battle pitting former bantamweight champion Darrion
Caldwell (15-3) against undefeated sensation AJ McKee (16-0).
Caldwell defeated Henry
Corrales and Adam Borics
to reach the semifinals, while McKee took care of Georgi
Karakhanyan and Derek
Campos to advance.
There is no word yet when the second semifinal matchup will take
place, and it may depend on the condition of the winners of the
Freire-Carvalho and Weichel-Sanchez bouts.