Bellator light heavyweight tournament set – including Rumble vs. Romero to kick off Grand Prix
Bellator MMA has announced a light heavyweight tournament.
Bellator 256 and 257, which is scheduled to take place on now on Friday’s, April 9 and April 16, will be the beginning of the stacked eight-man Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix – a tournament that will see two high-profile Bellator signings debut as former UFC title challengers Yoel Romero and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson are set to clash on Bellator’s April 16th event.
Here is the full timeline for the Grand Prix:
Bellator 256 (April 9th)
LHW QF 1
– Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
LHW QF 2
– Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida
Bellator 257 (April 16th)
LHW QF 3
– Anthony Johnson vs. Yoel Romero
LHW QF 4
– Vadim Nemkov vs. Phil Davis
The Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix will kick off on April 9th. In the first quarter final, we will see Corey Anderson (14-5) taking on Bellator newcomer, Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (18-5-1).
Also on April 9th and currently the main event of the event, Ryan Bader (27-6) will be taking on Lyoto Machida (26-10). Bader is the current Bellator heavyweight champion and just lost his light heavyweight championship last year to Vadim Nemkov(12-2).
Arguably the biggest matchup Bellator could of made as of right now, takes place on April 16th. Yoel Romero (13-5) and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (22-6) will go head to head. However, despite the hype that came with this fight, it will not serve as the main event on April 16th.
That will be in the hands of the Bellator Light Heavyweight champion, Vadim Nemkov. Nemkov will be competing in the tournament and defending his title against Phil Davis (22-5, 1 NC) in the opening round. An absolutely stacked Grand Prix that will see fight fans very excited about the matchups.
