Bellator announced Monday the matchups for all four quarterfinal bouts in the promotion’s featherweight tournament happening on June 25 at Bellator 46 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
The “Summer Series’ will bridge the gap between last week’s season four finale and the season five premiere slated for Sept. 17.
Check out the featherweight bracket, which includes Bellator lightweight tournament winner Pat Curran and former Sengoku featherweight champion Marlon Sandro.
23-year-old Pat Curran (13-4) is coming off a loss in a Bellator title fight against champion Eddie Alvarez in April. He’s already won a Bellator tournament lightweight division in season two and he’ll be after a featherweight title shot against Luis Palomino. Palomino is 3-2 in Bellator competition and his most notable win was a split decision over Jorge Masvidal in February 2010.
Marlon Sandro (17-2), who trains with UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo, signed with Bellator in February and will be making his debut with Bellator after fighting exclusively in Japan from 2007 through 2010. He joined Sengoku in 2009 and made it all the way to the finals where he lost a close decision in the finals to Michihiro Omigawa. Last June, he earned a shot at the title and knocked out Masanori Kanehara in 38 seconds to become the new Sengoku champion. At the last Sengoku event (to date), Sandro dropped the title to Hatsu Hioki. Sandro will be facing Genair da Silva (10-3), a prospect out of Brazil.
Last September, Ronnie Mann (19-2-1) won the Shark Fights featherweight title against Doug Evans and then signed with Bellator this year. Mann, who was 2-1 with Sengkoku in 2009, outpointed Josh Arocho last month at Bellator 42. His opponent Adam Schindler (9-1) is a one-time Strikeforce competitor and previously fought for Bellator in May 2010. He’s on a six-fight win streak.
Nazareno Malegarie (19-1) joined Bellator in March and suffered his first career loss in a decision to Daniel Straus. Jacob Devree (10-1) of Arizona has been fighting mostly locally and this will be his first taste under the national spotlight.
Bellator 46 Fight Card:
Televised Bouts
Marlon Sandro vs. Genair da Silva
Ronnie Mann vs. Adam Schindler
Pat Curran vs. Luis Palomino
Nazareno Malegarie vs. Jacob Devree
Preliminary Bouts
Josh Samman vs. Mike Bernhard
Tony Johnson Jr. vs. TBA
Jessica Aguilar vs. Carla Esparza
After making plenty of noise and turning more than a few heads in Bellator’s lightweight division,