Bellator Finalizes Welterweight Tournament Participants

Bellator Fighting Championships on Wednesday added the final two pieces to its Season 2 welterweight tournament, as the promotion announced it had acquired the services of International Fight League veteran Brett Cooper and UFC exile Ryan Thomas.

Cooper and Thomas join 2008 Olympian Ben Askren, unbeaten Arizona Combat Sports prospect Jacob McClintock, Sengoku veteran Dan Horbuckle, Jim Wallhead, Sean Pierson and Steve Carl in the eight-man competition.

“Cooper and Thomas are two great additions to our world-class welterweight tournament,” Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a release. “Cooper’s power presents big problems for anyone he fights, and Thomas has the potential to upset anyone in our 170-pound division.”

Cooper has won seven of his last eight fights. A protégé of Maximum Fighting Championships lightweight titleholder Antonio McKee, he last competed in October, when he knocked out the previously unbeaten Sergio Moraes at Jungle Fight 15 in Brazil. Victories against current UFC welterweight Rory Markham, Strikeforce veteran Conor Heun and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 2 semi-finalist Jason Von Flue buoy Cooper’s resume.

The 25-year-old Thomas has never gone the distance in 13 professional bouts. He has not competed since he submitted King of the Cage veteran Ryan Stout with a first-round armbar at War in the Yard show in August. Thomas was pruned from the UFC roster following back-to-back submission losses to Ben Saunders and Matt Brown in 2008.

First-round matchups for the welterweight tournament, which will establish a number one contender for undefeated Bellator champion Lyman Good, will be announced next week.