Here at MMA Junkie we love a good tournament, and Bellator has brought back the format with a fair amount of success. It’s seen Ryan Bader become a champ-champ by adding the heavyweight strap to his light heavyweight title, while the welterweight tournament has now reached its finale, with Rory MacDonald and Douglas Lima set to face off for the Bellator 170-pound title and a $1 million prize. So, with the start of Bellator’s 16-man featherweight grand prix – the promotion’s biggest tournament to date – set for Sept. 7, I was tasked with the job of coming up with a set of eight pairings that would make a fine first-round lineup for the tournament. And so, with a respectful nod to my MMA Junkie colleague and author of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes,” Mike Bohn, I ease my size 10s into “Rick Chou’s Jimmy Choos” and try a bit of matchmaking of my own but – with a twist.
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Bellator bracketology: Matchmaking the 16-man featherweight grand prix – MMA Junkie