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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Lightweight fighter Toby Imada will be taking his second crack at a Bellator Fighting Championships tournament, as the organization announced today his participation in the season two lightweight tournament.
The runner-up to season one winner Eddie Alvarez, Imada made himself known to MMA fans everywhere with his extremely impressive inverted triangle submission over Jorge Masvidal in the semifinals. That submission took home "Submission of the Year" honors at the 2009 World MMA Awards. Imada had won eight consecutive fights heading into the bout with Alvarez, and picked up another victory outside of the organization this January with a second round TKO.
Imada is now the sixth competitor announced for the season two lightweight tournament, joining previously announced fighters Chad Hinton (6-0), Janne Tulirinta (12-3), Ferrid Kheder (16-5), Mike Ricci (5-0) and Cary Vanier (7-2). The winner of the second season tournament will face off with Champion Alvarez in the organization's third season.
Bellator's second season gets underway on April 8th, and airs live every Thursday night on Fox Sports Net.
Penick's Analysis: Imada is a great addition to this tournament. His submission over Masvidal last season was one of the highlights that made Bellator the success it was for fans online. The increased exposure on Fox Sports Net will allow more of these fighters to get out there to even more fans, and of course they're hoping to get some more of the highlight reel finishes that made the first season so fun to watch. Imada will have a chance now to get back to a rematch with Alvarez, but it's definitely a tough field of up and coming talent he'll have to get through. Bellator is getting a lot of buzz for all the right reasons right now and the second season remains highly anticipated for next month.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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