Ryan Bader Optimistic About His Tournament Path Before Bellator 199

Ryan Bader (24-5) faces Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (21-6) in the next round of Bellator’s Heavyweight World Grand Prix at Bellator 199. The current light-heavyweight champ has a shot at avenging a loss from his wrestling days, along with a chance at clai…

Ryan Bader (24-5) faces Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (21-6) in the next round of Bellator’s Heavyweight World Grand Prix at Bellator 199. The current light-heavyweight champ has a shot at avenging a loss from his wrestling days, along with a chance at claiming two titles with Bellator MMA that would make for a great landmark […]

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Ryan Bader Dismisses King Mo’s Retirement Claims

Ryan Bader believes Muhammed Lawal is off-base with his latest claims. Bader and “King Mo” will compete this Saturday night (May 12) in a Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix match-up. The winner will advance to the semi-finals to meet Matt Mitr…

Ryan Bader believes Muhammed Lawal is off-base with his latest claims. Bader and “King Mo” will compete this Saturday night (May 12) in a Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix match-up. The winner will advance to the semi-finals to meet Matt Mitrione. The bout is set to headline Bellator 199, which will be held inside the SAP […]

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King Mo: I Don’t Think Ryan Bader Wants to Fight Anymore

Muhammed Lawal questions Ryan Bader’s desire to compete. Lawal and Bader are set to clash on May 12 in the main event of Bellator 199. The action will take place inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California. This will be a Bellator Heavyweight G…

Muhammed Lawal questions Ryan Bader’s desire to compete. Lawal and Bader are set to clash on May 12 in the main event of Bellator 199. The action will take place inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California. This will be a Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix match, where the winner will move on to the […]

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Bellator Heavyweight Tournament Opening-Round Matchups Revealed

Bellator MMA is finally going to crown its new heavyweight champion. This has been expected for some time. The promotion is bringing back a tournament to find their heavyweight champion in 2018. The promotion will host an eight-man heavyweight tournament known as the Bellator MMA World Grand Prix 2018. The winner of this tournament will […]

The post Bellator Heavyweight Tournament Opening-Round Matchups Revealed appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Bellator MMA is finally going to crown its new heavyweight champion. This has been expected for some time. The promotion is bringing back a tournament to find their heavyweight champion in 2018.

The promotion will host an eight-man heavyweight tournament known as the Bellator MMA World Grand Prix 2018. The winner of this tournament will earn the vacant Bellator title.

Bellator has been without a heavyweight champion since the title was vacated by then-champ Vitaly Minakov after Bellator decided to stripped him of it in May of 2016 for failing to defend the title.

On late Tuesday night, the bracket was revealed for the Bellator MMA World Grand Prix 2018. Here are the opening-round matchups:

Quinton Jackson vs. Chael Sonnen
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Frank Mir
Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson
Ryan Bader vs. Muhammed Lawal

The Jackson vs. Sonnen winner will face the winner of Emelianenko vs. Mir in one semifinal.

On the flip side in the other semifinal, the winner of Mitrione vs. Nelson will face the Bader vs. Lawal winner.

The Jackson-Sonnen bout will kick things off at Bellator 192, which is slated to take place on January 20th at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The prelims will air online while the main card airs on Spike TV. Douglas Lima will defend the Bellator Welterweight title against former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald in the main event.

Mitrione-Nelson is slated for an event scheduled on Feb. 16 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Fedor-Mir and Bader-King Mo are scheduled for April and May events, respectively.

The tournament bouts will take place throughout next year with the plan being for the final is tentatively scheduled for December 2018.

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Scott Coker Says Ryan Bader vs. King Mo Likely in Late 2017

Muhammed Lawal is likely to get the first crack at Ryan Bader’s Bellator light heavyweight title. Bellator President Scott Coker recently appeared on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour” to discuss many topics including the 205-pound title picture. Coker said that “King Mo” vs. “Darth” is likely to go down later this year. “Bader should fight ‘King […]

Muhammed Lawal is likely to get the first crack at Ryan Bader’s Bellator light heavyweight title. Bellator President Scott Coker recently appeared on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour” to discuss many topics including the 205-pound title picture. Coker said that “King Mo” vs. “Darth” is likely to go down later this year. “Bader should fight ‘King […]

Muhammed Lawal Admits Being Distracted by Crowd Brawl During ‘Rampage’ Rematch

Muhammed Lawal likes a good fight, even ones that don’t take place inside a cage or ring. Lawal took on Quinton Jackson in a rematch from their May 2014 bout. While “Rampage” earned a unanimous decision in their first encounter, “King Mo” reigned supreme at Bellator 175. It was his 10th win inside the Bellator […]

Muhammed Lawal likes a good fight, even ones that don’t take place inside a cage or ring. Lawal took on Quinton Jackson in a rematch from their May 2014 bout. While “Rampage” earned a unanimous decision in their first encounter, “King Mo” reigned supreme at Bellator 175. It was his 10th win inside the Bellator […]