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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
With Bellator's fifth season set to kick off in September, the organization is quickly filling up their upcoming tournament fields and setting up quarterfinal dates for the various divisions. The latest field to be completed is the season five heavyweight tournament, and Bellator announced on Wednesday that it will kick off on October 1 at Bellator 52.
Taking place from Lake Charles, La., Bellator 52 will feature four heavyweight quarterfinal matchups on MTV2, with Ron Sparks vs. Mark Holata, Neil Grove vs. Mike "300" Hayes, Thiago "Big Monster" Santos vs. Blagoi Ivanov and Eric Prindle vs. Abe Wagner all set for the card.
"We've consistently seen dramatic, explosive performances from our heavyweights and that's exactly what I expect in our Season 5 Heavyweight tournament," said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Neil, Ron, Eric, Mark, Big Monster all look to knock you out from the moment the first bell rings, so don't blink when this tournament starts Oct. 1 LIVE on MTV2 and in HD on EPIX."
Grove, who lost in the finals of Bellator's inaugural heavyweight tournament to current champion Cole Konrad, rebounded from that loss in July with a first round finish of Zak Jensen.
"This tournament is stacked with strikers this year, which will provide a stronger line-up and even more exciting fights than last year," said Grove. "I'm sure Cole is just as busy as the rest of us, preparing for battle against one of us, and I'm just excited to compete for another shot at the title, especially for a promotion such as Bellator."
The winner of this season's tournament will earn a shot at Konrad and the Bellator Heavyweight Championship sometime in 2012.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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