Bellator to hold light heavyweight grand prix, will include Rumble vs. Romero

When former UFC stalwarts Yoel Romero and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson were picked by Bellator months ago, one could sense a heavy fan demand to see the two face each other in the cage.

Well, Bellator president Scott Coker is giving us what we want, as the veterans will indeed fight each other in the first round of the upcoming Bellator light heavyweight world grand prix.

The tournament will begin April 9th at Bellator 256 with Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida and Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov. The remaining two quarterfinal matchups – the aforementioned Romero vs. Johnson, and champion Vadim Nemkov defending his belt vs. Phil Davis – are to be held at Bellator 257 on April 16th.

This eight man tournament will not be Bellator’s first grand prix event; however, it is arguably the most talent-stacked, as the organization has recently acquired many new top light heavyweight fighters.

Both the aforementioned Bellator cards will be aired on Showtime.

Bellator has released the following graphic showing the tournament bracket: