Steve Carl Joins Bellator's Season Four Welterweight Tournament (VIDEO)

(Carl submits Tyler Stinson at Bellator 26.)

Yesterday Bellator announced the addition of Steve Carl (#43 Welterweight) to the season four welterweight tournament. A former U.S. Army sergeant who served in the Operation Iraqi Freedom, Carl took up MMA in the mid-2000s while stationed at Fort Hood, Tex., site of this Saturday’s UFC Fight for the Troops 2 card.

“I don’t feel like I’ve ever been able to show my true potential out there in any of my fights, but I think fans can expect to see a more explosive and fired-up Steve Carl than ever before in 2011,” Carl was quoted in the press release. “What was good enough last year isn’t going to cut it this year.”

Carl joins “Judo” Jimmy Wallhead, former Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good (#38), Dan Hornbuckle (#57), Brent Weedman (#84), Chris Lozano, and former Olympic judoka Rick Hawn as they compete for $100,000 and a shot at Askren. Both Lozano and Hawn will enter our rankings after their first tournament fight.

The promotion’s inaugural Light-Heavyweight Tournament is the only other officially-announced component of Bellator’s upcoming fourth season, which will air on MTV2. In the coming weeks, Bellator will announce its season four tournament participants. To date, the other announced fighters for season four are Joe Riggs, Daniel Gracie and Ron Sparks.

The promotion currently boasts champions in all men’s divisions but Flyweight and Light Heavyweight. Those champions are Zach Makovsky (#11 Bantamweight), Joe Warren (#2 Featherweight), Eddie Alvarez (#11 Lightweight), Ben Askren (#16 Welterweight), Hector Lombard (#6 Middleweight), Cole Konrad (#24 Heavyweight), and Zoila Frausto, who will likely be at the top of the heap when FIGHT! unveils its Women’s Flyweight Rankings.