With its second season debut on April 8 now less than eight weeks away, Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the opening round matchups for its upcoming eight-man featherweight tournament:

The four fights will take place during Bellator’s first two Season 2 events on April 8th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., and on April 15th at the historic Chicago Theatre. Bellator will also conduct tournaments at 155, 170 and 185 lbs. during Season 2 with the winners in each division being declared No. 1 contenders to the current roster of Bellator champions. Fighter pairings for those tournaments will be announced within the coming weeks.

The featherweight (145 lbs.) matchups are as follows:

April 8th

• Joe Warren (2-1) vs. Eric Marriott (17-2)
• Georgi Karakhanyan (12-1-1) vs. Bao Quach (17-9-1)

April 15th

• Wilson Reis (9-1) vs. Shad Lierley (5-2)
• Patricio Pitbull (12-0) vs. William Romero (5-0)

Each of the fights will be broadcast live in prime time on FOX Sports Net. Highlights will be shown the following Saturday night in special action-packed shows on NBC and Telemundo.

“As an MMA fan, I can’t wait to see these fights,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Having watched all of these guys in the cage, I can’t tell you who the favorite will be. There’s been great buzz about our 145 division and it’s definitely warranted. This tournament is a mine field for each of these fighters.”

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Tags: Bao Quach, Eric Marriott, Georgi Karakhanyan, Joe Warren, Patricio Pitbull, Shad Lierley, William Romero, Wilson Reis