One thing about being the second-largest MMA company in the marketplace is more latitude to try new things.
Bellator often copies Japan’s glory days of fight promotion, and Scott Coker cut his teeth as a promoter with K-1 in that era. So it’s no surprise he tried a concept from that country as part of the Viacom-owned promotion’s Featherweight Grand Prix Tournament.
After the first round of the tournament ended at Bellator 228 with Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (30-4) defending his title over Juan Archuleta (23-2), the eight remaining fighters picked numbers and were given their choice of dates to fight next – or, after early fighters had picked dates, the choice of opponents.