Saunders, Rickels and Amaya fill Bellator's season-six welterweight tourney field

Three more welterweights have been added to Bellator's season-six welterweight tournament, which rounds out the competition's eight-man field.

The promotion announced the inclusion of tourney vet Ben Saunders (12-4-2 MMA, 3-1 BFC) and undefeated fighters David Rickels (8-0 MMA, 3-0 BFC) and Raul Amaya (9-0 MMA, 0-0 BFC).

The sixth season kicks off in March and airs on MTV2.

Saunders, Rickels and Amaya join Bryan Baker (16-3 MMA, 6-2 BFC), Brian Foster (18-5 MMA, 0-0 BFC), Karl Amoussou (13-4-2 MMA, 1-1 BFC), Carlos Alexandre Pereira (33-9-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) and War Machine (12-4 MMA, 0-0 BFC) in the tourney field.

The combined record of the tournament field is 121-29-5.

Saunders hopes to rebound from a disappointing showing in Bellator's season-five tournament. The UFC vet earned a trip to the finals with a TKO victory over Chris Cisneros and submission win over Luis Santos. But in a huge upset, Douglas Lima used a second-round knocked to take the tournament title.

The setback snapped a four-fight win streak that came after Saunders' exit from the UFC.

Rickels has thrice appeared on Bellator cards as a preliminary-card fighter and now hopes to take center stage. Submissions run deep on the Kansas resident's resume with six of his eight wins coming by way of tapout, though the level of competition he's faced over a year-plus as a pro is uneven.

Amaya's resume is not much different. While he boasts six submission and three knockout victories on his undefeated record, all but a few of his opponents carry losing records. Still, he has yet to go the distance in two-plus years as a pro.

In addition to the welterweight tournament, Bellator is hosting season-six tourneys in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and middleweight divisions. Each tourney winner gets $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot.

For more on Bellator's upcoming season, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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