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.