The field is taking shape for Bellator's newly organized season-six bantamweight tournament.
Although the 135-pound tournament is the fifth and final addition to the early-2012 calendar, some notable names have been booked for it.
Officials told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that Marcos Galvao (10-5-1 MMA, 1-2 BFC), Luis "Betao" Nogueira (12-2 MMA, 2-1 BFC), Rodrigo "Ratinho" Lima (9-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC) and Ed West (17-6 MMA, 3-2 BFC) are all slotted for the eight-man field.
Additionally, as MMAjunkie.com reported earlier today, Masakatsu Ueda (14-1-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC) also has signed with the organization and will be part of the field.
Officials will announce the complete field in the coming weeks.
Bellator's sixth season kicks off in March, and as usual, cards will stream on Spike.com and air on MTV2. In addition to bantamweight tournament, the promotion is hosting tourneys in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.
Champion Zach Makovsky currently rules the bantamweight division.
Galvao was bounced from the season-five tourney semifinals with a close split-decision loss to Alexis Villa. The WEC vet's only other Bellator loss came to Joe Warren.
Nogueira enters the tournament with eight wins in his past nine fights. The lone loss came to West in the season-five tourney's opening round.
Lima makes his promotional debut following a perfect 9-0 run in his native Brazil. Seven of his wins have come via stoppage.
West enters his third tournament following a runner-up finish in season three and a semifinal finish in season five. The losses came to Makovsky and Eduardo Dantas, respectively.
Ueda, a wrestling and grappling champion, is perhaps best known for his two-year reign as Shooto's featherweight (132-pound) champion. He won the vacant title with a victory over Koetsu Okazaki before a split-draw with Marcos Galvao and decision victories over So Tazawa and Eduardo Dantas.
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