Bracket set for Bellator's season eight welterweight tournament, kicks off January 24

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Bellator's season eight welterweight tournament will kick off on January 24 in Oklahoma, and the organization announced the full tournament bracket on Wednesday.

The January 24 event will be headlined by the Welterweight Championship bout between Ben Askren and Karl Amoussou, and the path to the next challenger will begin as well. First up in the quarterfinals is former UFC vet Ben Saunders against Koffi Adzitso.

"I've had my sights set on getting back into this tournament for a while,” Saunders said. “Everyone knows what type of energy I bring into every one of my fights, and to have the opportunity to do it on Spike is all I could ask for. I can't wait to get started on January 24."

One-time tournament finalist Brent Weedman will get back into the field, as he'll take on Marius Zaromskis in the opening round. The field is rounded out with Jose Gomes vs. Raul Amaya, and former Bellator Champion Douglas Lima against Michail Tsarev.

"I've been there once, and everything I do is the gym is to get back to that point. This is what I train for every day, and my only goal to get that $100,000 check and a shot at the belt.

"From top to bottom, our welterweight division has a collection of pure finishers that have put on some wildly entertaining fights," Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. "With a Welterweight World Title fight, the debut of King Mo and a stacked welterweight tournament, January 24 is going to be a huge night from WinStar World Casino."

The full bracket is below:

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_15558.shtml

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski