A Look Ahead Part 3: Bellator's Season Five Middleweight Tournament

Hello again fans and friends and welcome to part three of today’s special four-part mini-series “A Look Ahead”. With Bellator’s Season Four tournaments all beginning to reach their conclusion, all eyes are beginning to focus on Season Five. Even this early, Season Five is looking quite good, with many big-level stars either rumored or confirmed to be fighting in the tournament or competing in qualifier bouts. For the first part of the series, click here. For Part 2, please click here. For the third part of “A Look Ahead”, we’ll be focusing on Bellator’s Season Five Middleweight Tournament. Let’s dive right in.

Bellator’s Season Five Middleweight Tournament will feature eight 185-pound fighters fighting it out for a shot at Hector Lombard, the reigning Bellator Middleweight Champion. The following fighters have all been officially announced as Season Five participants: Bryan Baker, Vitor Vianna, the winner of the upcoming fight between Alexander Shlemenko and Brett Cooper, and the winner of the upcoming fight that pits Karl Amoussou against Sam Alvey.

In addition to that, the following fighters have been rumored as participants to Season Five’s Middleweight Tournament: Jared Hess, Justin Torrey, Dan Cramer, and Jay Silva

Considering that he just knocked out former UFC and Strikeforce fighter Joe Riggs in two rounds, Bryan Baker is going to ride an incredible wave of momentum into Season Five. Baker has fought to the finals of a Bellator tournament before, and he’s on a two-fight win-streak, so I think he’s going to be the man to beat in the opening round. Most likely Baker will earn another KO on his record unless he’s put up against a big name. I’ve got some pretty high hopes for Bryan Baker in Season Five.

My hopes are equally as high for Alexander Shlemenko. Shlemenko is set to face Brett Cooper at Bellator 44, which takes place a little over an hour from now. Barring any miracles, I think Shlemenko will definitely play a big role in Season Five’s Middleweight Tournament. He’s only lost twice since 2007, and he’s assembled a laundry list of stoppages since that time.

If he is confirmed for Season Five, I think Jay Silva will be the “dark horse” of Bellator’s next Middleweight Tournament. He’s lost three out of his last four, including one by six-second stoppage to Hector Lombard. But he’s been fighting the best: in addition to Lombard, Silva also lost to Chris Leben and C.B. Dollaway in the UFC. Neither fighter was able to finish Silva. The odds certainly may not be in Silva’s favor, but if he does become the miracle worker of Season Five, I’d only be moderately surprised.

Looking forward, it’s obvious that Bryan Baker is the man to beat in this tournament. Shlemenko will also have a giant bullseye on his back so long as he wins at Bellator 44. Right now, I think it’s highly likely that Baker will fight Shlemenko either in the semi-finals or final. If it’s in the semi-finals, then whoever wins that fight becomes the official favorite to win it all.

And that’s it for part three of “A Look Ahead”, fans and friends. Stay tuned for the fourth and final part of today’s special four-part series, it’ll be up soon. But for now: what’s your take on Bellator’s Season Five Middleweight Tournament?