Welterweight Title Fight Headed To Bellator 220

ByMike Straus Apr 5, 2019Oct 16, 2020

Bellator MMA will stage a welterweight title fight in the promotion’s return to New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 14.

The most unique feature of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix is that the champion, Rory MacDonald, will find himself defending his title throughout the tournament.

He will defend his 170-pound strap against Jon Fitch in a quarterfinal matchup at Bellator 220 on April 27.

The winner of that contest will have a semifinal date with Nieman Gracie at Bellator 222 on June 14. (ESPN first reported).

Gracie is a BJJ specialist who earned his bid in the semifinal round by defeating Ed Ruth via fourth-round submission. The other semifinal bout is Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page. They are scheduled to fight in Chicago on May 11.

Mike Straus

Mike Straus @AKAstraus21 is a credentialed MMA journalist and a member of the MMAJA. He has been a fan of the sport since its inception and has been covering the sport professionally for three years. In the past, he has produced content for Fansided's Cagepages, mma-media.com, and Combatpress.com. He currently contributes for MyMMANews.com, he is a staff writer for Cagesidepress.com, and LowKickMMA.com. He most recently began writing for BJPenn.com.