Bellator 67 adds Saunders-Baker, Amoussou-Rickels welterweight-tourney semifinals
Bellator's season-six welterweight-tournament semifinals are headed to Canada.
Following their opening-round victories at Friday's Bellator 63 event, officials announced the semifinal pairings include Ben Saunders (13-4-2 MMA, 4-1 BFC) vs. Bryan Baker (17-3 MMA, 7-2 BFC) and Karl Amoussou (14-4-2 MMA, 2-1 BFC) vs. David Rickels (10-0 MMA, 2-0 BFC).
They take place at Bellator 67, which is slated for May 4 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada.
The main card, including the tourney fights and a Michael Chandler vs. Akihiro Gono non-title headliner, air on MTV2. Spike.com carries the prelims.
Saunders advanced in the tourney after topping a resilient Raul Amaya via unanimous decision. Saunders, a runner-up in the season-five tourney, fired off armbars, omaplatas and triangle chokes but settled for the decision while delivering Amaya his first career loss.
His upcoming opponent, Baker, felt the full effects of a tough cut down from middleweight and settled for a split-decision victory over Carlos Pereira in a sometimes-plodding affair. Baker has fallen short in two of Bellator's 185-pound tournaments, and he now faces a tough test in the welterweight semifinals when he meets UFC vet Saunders.
Amoussou, meanwhile, made short work of Chris Lozano in Bellator 63's headliner. After an intense staredown, Amoussou carried the hard feelings into the event, where he threw a head kick, hit the mat, and quickly transitioned into a fight-ending rear-naked choke just two minutes into the fight.
He looks to continue his first-ever Bellator tourney run against Rickels, who needed just 22 seconds to knock out Jordan Smith, who was a late replacement for medically ineligible Brian Foster. Rickels stunned Smith with a right, and the submission specialist then pounced with follow-up punches to secure his first KO victory since his pro debut in early 2010.
The tourney winner earns $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.
