Agent of chaos and promoter extraordinaire Scott Coker is at it again.

The man who ended his reign as Strikeforce CEO with the wild and crazy notion of a heavyweight grand prix is now repeating history as Bellator President, and the result is bound to be memorable – one way or another.

Eight fighters. Only about half of them heavyweights. None of them younger than mid-thirties. And soon they’ll collide in a grand prix tournament to crown the first Bellator heavyweight champion in well over a year.

What could go wrong? Except for many, many things.

While we wait for tournament brackets to be set and the first injury withdrawals to be announced, we might as well take a look at the field (vote in our poll at the bottom).

Who are these guys, anyway? And who did they used to be? And in what way is their particular journey through this tournament bound to get weird?

Who he is: A former UFC heavyweight champion who at one time was a new prototype for MMA big men, essentially because he had size and strength but also submission skills, and in an era when those didn’t typically go together. That was more than a decade ago. He ended his UFC run with six losses in eight fights, then pleaded for and was granted his release after a positive test for steroids that he semi-seriously suggested could be due to tainted kangaroo meat he ate before fighting in Australia. I wish I were making this up.

Why he might win: If he can keep from getting knocked out (a big if for any aging heavyweight), he has legit skills both standing and on the mat. Plus, he’s one of the bigger men in the tournament, though that isn’t saying much with a bunch of light heavyweights running around.

Why he might not: His chin.

Most likely (weird) result: Gets dropped early in opening round, pulls off a Hail Mary submission from his back, withdraws from semifinals with a staph infection.

Who he is: The biggest of countries, the former IFL heavyweight champion, the owner of a beard that gradually went from good ole boy to LOTR dwarf to sovereign citizen separatist right before our very eyes. Somehow, if only by a matter of months, Nelson is the oldest fighter in this tournament at 41. He’s also one of the most resilient, which is really saying something when you consider how long he’s been blocking punches with his head as a short, slow heavyweight.

Nelson has one unremarkable Bellator victory since bouncing out of the UFC earlier this year, but in all his years of fighting some of the heaviest hitters in this sport, he’s only been knocked out twice. Then again, he’s also one of the better grapplers who absolutely refuses to use those skills most of the time, so you might say his reliance on his own ability to eat strikes has been both a hindrance and a help.

Why he might win: You won’t get rid of him easily, and his overhand right is a real threat to some of the chinny older guys in this field. Plus, you really think any of the light heavyweight wrestlers want to spend all night shooting doubles on “Big Country?”

Why he might not: You know the last time Nelson put two or more wins together in a row? It was 2013, and it proved to be one of only two winning streaks in his UFC career. Tough to win a tournament that way.

Most likely (weird) result: Knockout win in opening round, wheezing decision loss in the semis.

Who he is: A former All-American wrestler and Strikeforce light heavyweight champion who once dubbed himself a “moneyweight,” and who has stuck to that approach his entire career – especially after being released from the Zuffa-owned version of Strikeforce following a positive steroid test in 2012.

At 5-foot-11 and usually barely over 200 pounds, he’ll be one of the smallest men in the tournament, but that’s never bothered him before. He’s fought in openweight tournaments in Japan and won three fights in three days to conquer the 2015 Rizin World Grand Prix. He’s also been somewhat inconsistent in big fights throughout his career, and his most intense rivalry – opposite fellow tournament participant “Rampage” Jackson – resulted in some of his least exciting fights.

Why he might win: “King Mo” can wrestle, and he can punch. Fighting heavyweights, even when it means giving up 40 pounds or more, is nothing new to him.

Why he might not: He’s not much of a finisher, especially when he’s up against bigger fighters, and not every judge appreciates his style as much as he does.

Most likely (weird) result: Split-decision loss in the opening round, followed by an unsuccessful appeal and calls for a congressional investigation.

Who he is: A gangster from West Linn, Ore., Sonnen is one of only two men in this tournament to have never held a significant title, though he came close twice. In fact, coming close was one of the primary things Sonnen was known for during his time in the UFC. The others were his bombastic, pro wrestling-inspired public persona and his history of performance-enhancing drug use, the latter of which got him released from the UFC, suspended for two years, and somehow hired by ESPN as an intermittent analyst.

He’s 1-1 after roughly a year with Bellator, getting quickly submitted by an aging Tito Ortiz and then winning a decision over an aging Wanderlei Silva. He’s also, as far as we know, the only person in this tournament to be both a disgraced realtor and a disgraced politician, all thanks to a 2011 guilty plea on federal money laundering charges. In other words, he’s what we in the fight game like to refer to as “colorful.”

Why he might win: Sonnen is a legitimately suffocating wrestler when he’s on his game, and he’s never met a shortcut he wouldn’t take. Plus he’s interesting enough that Bellator might want to give him a friendly first-round matchup in order to keep him involved.

Why he might not: He’s arguably the most one-dimensional fighter in this thing. He’s no threat to anyone on the feet, has a history of getting caught in submissions, and he’s always struggled against bigger opponents.

Most likely (weird) result: Loses in the first round, comes back as an injury replacement and beats an alternate in the semis, then tests positive for an experimental Russian steroid.

Who he is: The only former NFL player in the tournament, and also the only person to already own both a knockout win and a knockout loss against other fighters in this field. Just in terms of his MMA feats, he’s arguably the least accomplished fighter here, though also one of the most deceptively dangerous. Mitrione is a big, though still athletic, heavyweight, plus he’s not as shopworn as some of the others, and he can flat-out hit. As proof, see his three consecutive knockout wins since signing with Bellator in 2016.

Why he might win: His recent losses have all come against bigger heavyweights, and there aren’t many of those in this bunch.

Why he might not: Even when Mitrione wins by knockout, he sometimes does it while tiptoeing right up to the line of losing by knockout.

Most likely (weird) result: TKO win in the first round, no-contest due to simultaneous double knockout in the semis.

Who he is: Come on, you know who he is. Unless you’re too young, in which case ask your dad. It’ll be a good chance for you two to bond. And besides, you guys never talk anymore ever since he left your mom and started dating Sharon.

Why he might win: The ghosts of Saitama, summoned by a dark ritual that may or may not be connected to the sudden disappearance of Jerry Millen, flood through a portal into the world of the living and carry Emelianenko to victory.

Why he might not: The incredible overabundance of evidence that he is shot. Look, Emelianenko was a great fighter once, but those days are gone. He’s too small for this field, doesn’t take a punch like he used to, and yet he still fights like it’s 2006, and he can’t be touched. He hasn’t evolved, but he has aged – and that poorly.

Most likely (weird) result: Extremely depressing first-round TKO loss.

Who he is: A former UFC light heavyweight champion who now hears the words “heavyweight tournament” and heads straight for the buffet. Jackson’s continued ability to stay competitive, at least in Bellator, comes almost in spite of his own efforts. He was never known as a gym rat even back in his heyday(s) with PRIDE and then the UFC, but now he seems to despise MMA with all the fury he used to reserve for his own nutritionists.

As an added wrinkle, Jackson has claimed that he only learned he was a part of this tournament after signing a new Bellator contract. Will this prove to be the seed that quickly blooms into a tree of discontent? Maybe, but the one thing you can always count on is that “Rampage” will find some way to be extremely outwardly displeased with whatever his current employment status may be.

Why he might win: When he’s at least somewhat motivated, and when his opponents consent to exactly the type of fights he wants, Jackson can still win. He barely seems to enjoy it, but still.

Why he might not: Especially recently, the heavier you allow him to be on weigh-in day, the worse he looks on fight night. The fact that he seems to care so much more about video games than about MMA does not seem to help this problem.

Most likely (weird) result: Sloppy decision victory in the opening round, then he refuses to fight in the next round unless Bellator gives him a gold-plated Xbox and one of those James Bond cars where the headlights turn into machine guns.

Who he is: The current Bellator light heavyweight champion and also the youngest man in this tournament at sprightly age of 34. Partly for that reason, Bader might be the fighter with the brightest possible future here. A win in this tournament, and he’s suddenly a two-division champ, which doesn’t seem like a possibility Bellator has really prepared for. A loss, and he at least gets the atta-boy points for being willing to go up and take the risk.

Why he might win: He can wrestle with the wrestlers and throw out enough one-punch bombs to at least threaten the aging and increasingly vulnerable strikers. And compared to most of these grizzled old guys, he’s practically dewy with youth, though not green with inexperience.

Why he might not: A lot of light heavyweights look good until they get hit by a heavyweight, and the power is often the last thing to go for an aging big man.

Most likely (weird) result: First-round TKO loss … only to come back in the finals as an injury replacement and win the whole thing.

For more on the upcoming Bellator schedule, visit the MMA Rumors section of the site.