Featherweight quarterfinal matchups set for Bellator's "Summer Series" with Sandro, Curran, Mann and more

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Bellator Fighting Championships will kick off their summer series featherweight tournament next month at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. with Bellator 46.

Taking place on June 25, four featherweight quarterfinal fights will be broadcast live from the venue on MTV2.

17-2 Brazilian featherweight Marlon Sandro - a teammate of UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo - makes his Bellator debut in his opening round bout against Genair da Silva, while the other matchups feature some new and old names for the Bellator roster.

"I am coming to the United States to become a world champion," said Sandro. "I see Bellator as the place to really make a name for myself here in the U.S. I'm here to put on great fights, entertain the fans, and fight my way to the Bellator Featherweight World Championship."

Season two lightweight tournament winner Pat Curran takes on Luis Palomino, Ronnie Mann meets Adam Schindler, and rounding out the quarterfinals is a bout between Nazareno Malegarie and Jacob Devree.

"I've fought at featherweight for most of my career, so I'm really excited to get back to a weight class where I can really do some damage," said Curran. "I had some great results as a lightweight, but I'm really going to make some noise in this summer featherweight tournament."

The tournament is expected to play out over three events - one a month in June, July and August - with the featherweight division getting the only tournament. A number of non-tournament fights will also take place during the summer, and a rematch between Joe Warren and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire for the Bellator Featherweight Championship is also expected to take place during one of the events.

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio