Bellator Announces First-Round Pairings for Featherweight Grand Prix

Here’s your 16 man opening round of the Featherweight Grand Prix! #BellatorWGP pic.twitter.com/UzfC63pe97

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 15, 2019

The field is set for Bellator MMA’s upcoming featherweight grand prix.

The California-based promotion on Monday announced the remaining seven bouts that will comprise the 145-pound bracket. Reigning champion Patricio Freire’s opening-round showdown with Juan Archuleta in the Bellator 228 headliner had been confirmed last week.

The first four grand prix bouts will take place at Bellator 226 on Sept. 7 and are as follows: Daniel Straus vs. Derek Campos; Pat Curran vs. Adam Borics; Emmanuel Sanchez vs. Tywan Claxton and Sam Sicilia vs. Pedro Carvalho.

Bellator 226 takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., and is headlined by a heavyweight title tilt between Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo.

The remaining four first-round pairings — including Freire vs. Archuleta — will take place at Bellator 228. The other three bookings are as follows: Darrion Caldwell vs. Henry Corrales; Daniel Weichel vs. Saul Rogers and A.J. McKee vs. Georgi Karakhanyan.

Bellator 228 goes down at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Sept. 28 and also includes a middleweight rematch between Gegard Mousasi and Lyoto Machida in the co-main event.

Of the eight first-round fights, only Freire vs. Archuleta — with the featherweight belt on the line — will be a five-round contest. However, every grand prix bout from the quarterfinals on will be a five-round affair.

According to a release, quarterfinal matchups will be determined by a random drawing upon the completion of the first round. A tournament alternate bout will also be selected at the conclusion of the first round, and the winner will be available to step in if any of the original participants are unable to compete in future bouts.

Dates and locations for the rest of the grand prix will be announced at a later date.