As 2020 wound down, Bellator president Scott Coker was repeatedly asked which weight class was next for a grand prix tournament.

While Coker never committed to an answer in interviews, he hinted at a couple options. Most of the conversation revolved around two divisions: women’s flyweight and men’s light heavyweight.

Ultimately, 205-pound men were selected for the tournament, as the promotion announced the light heavyweight grand prix during a news conference Tuesday.

Though light heavyweight was the ultimate selection, the promotion was close to going a different route, Coker revealed to MMA Junkie at a later media availability.

“We were actually heading into a different direction,” Coker said. “The (different) direction was the female tournament at 125. What changed that was the free agent signings. We started signing some (fighters). It started with Corey Anderson, actually. Bader was here. Phil was already here. Nemkov was here. It started with Corey Anderson.

“To me, I said, ‘This is the greatest heavyweight division on the planet.’ To me, it’s even greater than it was six months ago. When we signed ‘Rumble’ and then we took a ‘wait and see.’ Then when we signed Yoel, we said, ‘OK, now this is the tournament. How could we not do this tournament? We were getting bombarded online, digitally, socially.”

With the signings of Yoel Romero and Anthony Johnson occurring so close together – and the two fighters entering the same Bellator weight division – the widespread buzz was generated online about a potential showdown between the two. The voices of the fans were too loud for Coker to ignore.

“I said, ‘Not only are we going to do the tournament, we’re going to give the fans what they want to see, We’re going to do this fight. The first fight is going to be ‘Rumble’ vs. Yoel.’ Because I believe this. When the fight is there, you have to do it,” Coker said. “… If we waited and put these guys on opposite sides of the bracket, somebody gets hurt. Somebody can’t fight. Things happen in this sport. Things change quickly.

“I said, ‘Hey, let’s put them first.’ Because when a fight is there, in this sport, you’ve got to take it. You’ve got to do it. This is a fight the fans want to see. It’s going to be huge and it’s going to be a great way to launch our tournament in the first round.”

Romero and Johnson will square off in a quarterfinal fight April 16 at Bellator 257. Also on the card, Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov will defend his title in a rematch against Phil Davis in another quarterfinal matchup.

One week earlier, the two other tournament quarterfinals, Ryan Bader vs. Lyoto Machida and Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, will take place April 9 at Bellator 256.

All four quarterfinal fights will take place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.