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Bellator 51 Kicks Off Bantamweight Tournament, Joe Warren Looking For Multiple Belts

Bellator's fifth season will kick off September 24th with Bellator 51 in Canton, Ohio. Headlining the season's featured bantamweight tournament is featherweight champion Joe Warren, former featherweight champion Joe Soto, and former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe.

Always the underdog, Joe Warren now attempts to do something no one else has. The Bellator featherweight champion is among the eight men announced for the promotion's Season Five Bantamweight Tournament, which will officially kick off in late September at Bellator 51.

Warren (7-1) enters the tournament riding high on a five-fight win streak that saw the 34-year-old capture Season Two's featherweight tournament title and the Bellator featherweight championship. He will square off against Alexis Vila (9-0), an undefeated 40-year-old, two-time world champion wrestler out of Cuba.

Also scheduled for the tournament's opening rounds, former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto (9-1) vs. Eduardo Dantas (10-2), former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe (18-7) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-4-1), and Season Three tournament participant Ed West (16-5) vs. Luis Nogueira (11-1).

Bellator 51 will be held September 24th at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. The bantamweight quarterfinals will be broadcasted live on MTV2 at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT.