Bellator’s first trip to Hawaii now has two bouts, with the addition of a welterweight battle of unbeatens.
Rising standouts Neiman Gracie and Ed Ruth will face off in their grand prix opener at the event, Bellator officials today told MMAjunkie. The Dec. 15 card is set for Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and streams on DAZN.
Hawaiian native Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is set to put her flyweight title on the line in the headliner against Valerie Letourneau.
Gracie (8-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and Ruth (6-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) will meet in an opening-round battle of Bellator’s upcoming welterweight tournament, which gets underway later this month at Bellator 206 as ex-champion Douglas Lima meets Andrey Koreshkov.
Whomever comes out on top between Gracie and Ruth will have a tough road ahead, with the winner of a battle between current champ Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch awaiting in the semifinals, which comes with a guaranteed title shot.
Gracie recently added a seventh submission to his eight career wins at Bellator 198. The 29-year-old, who trains at uncle Renzo Gracie’s gym in New York, had all but two of his pro bouts take place in the Bellator cage. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert has talked about his Bellator title aspirations in the past and recently told MMAJunkie he felt “validated” by the tournament inclusion.
Ruth, in turn, was a three-time national wrestling champion at Penn State before signing with Bellator in 2015. The 27-year-old has finished all but one of his fights since then and most recently stopped Andy Murad in the second round at Bellator 201 – which also marked Ruth’s official welterweight debut.
The latest lineup for Bellator’s Hawaii event includes:
Champ Ilima-Lei MacFarlane vs. Valerie Letourneau – for flyweight title
Neiman Gracie vs. Ed Ruth – welterweight grand prix opening round
Full story here:
Bellator unbeatens Neiman Gracie, Ed Ruth headed to Hawaii for welterweight grand prix
