Rules formalized for WSOF's one-night lightweight tournament

The rules for the highest profile eight-man, one-night tournament in quite some time have been made official.

World Series of Fighting 25 on Nov. 20 in Phoenix will feature a lightweight tournament, broadcast live on NBCSN, with the winner earning a future title shot at champion Justin Gaethje.

On Thursday, the company announced several rules intended to help the flow of the tournament and safeguard the competitors' safety:

*A fourth judge will be on hand for all tourney fights, and his card will be used to pick a winner in case of a draw. That fourth judge will score the bout PRIDE-style, simply picking a winner of the fight as a whole and not scoring by round.

*Elbows will not be permitted in the quarterfinal and semifinal bouts, but will be legal in the finals.

*The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be two five-minute rounds. The final will be three five-minute rounds.

"We are looking forward to a competitive night of tournament action after months of evaluating how we could make this the most exciting event possible and, at the same time, ensure the safety of our athletes and give each of them the best opportunity to prevail in the cage," WSOF president Ray Sefo said.

Opening-round fights in one bracket will feature Luis Palomino vs. Rich Patinshock and Brian Foster vs. Joao Zeferino, with the winners meeting in the semifinal. The other bracket feature Brian Cobb vs. Mike Ricci and Islam Mamedov vs. Jorge Patino, with the winner facing off. The fighters who emerge from each bracket will compete in the final.