Headlining the first part of the bracket is a matchup between current 170-pound champion Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch, and a highly anticipated grudge match between British striking stars Paul Daley and Michael Page.
It was not made clear whether MacDonald’s title would be on the line in his tournament bouts and neither dates nor locations have been set for any of the Grand Prix bouts yet. Currently, MacDonald is scheduled to challenge Gegard Mousasi for the Bellator middleweight championship on Sept. 29.
The other first-round bouts that Bellator officials announced via Instagram TV on Monday were a trilogy match between former champions Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov, and a fight between undefeated prospects Neiman Gracie and Ed Ruth.