Marlon Sandro finds himself in familiar territory this week.

The Brazilian on Thursday competes in a Bellator featherweight tournament for the third time. The first two times were successful – just not successful enough. In Season 6, as well as in the 2011 "Summer Series," Sandro reached the finals only to come up short.

In 2011, current champ Pat Curran stopped him with a second-round knockout. And this past May, current top contender Daniel Straus took a unanimous decision from him.

But heading into the Season 8 tournament, Sandro doesn't have revenge on his mind – even knowing that if he can get that coveted win in the finals this time, he'll get a shot at either Curran or Straus.

Sandro (23-4 MMA, 6-2 BFC) vs. meets Akop Stepanyan (12-4 MMA, 0-1 BFC) in the tournament's opening round at Bellator 88, which takes place at The Arena at Gwinnet Center in Duluth, Ga. The event is Bellator MMA's first trip to Georgia.

"Now I feel I have a different outlook," Sandro recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I am no longer worried in avenging losses. I just want to do my work. I will be making no promises. I'll merely show my work."

He'll try to show his work Thursday as a heavy 4-to-1 favorite against Stepanyan, a Russian who started his career 0-3 before going on a 12-fight run. He signed with Bellator, but was bounced from the Season 7 featherweight tourney in the opening round with a first-round armbar loss to Wagnney Fabiano.

Sandro said he's focused on the task at hand against Stepanyan. But that doesn't mean his eye isn't on the ultimate prize of winning a title. He just knows he has to take one step at a time.

"They beat me," he said. "They had their moment in the light. I'll have my moments, too. I'll seize my opportunities. I'll be looking to become champion. I'll worry about what I do instead of worrying about others. My moment will come."

At the acclaimed Nova Uniao academy in Brazil, Sandro is surrounded by greatness, including UFC champions Jose Aldo and Renan Barao, plus Bellator bantamweight champ Eduardo Dantas. He'd like nothing more than to become the next titleholder on that list.

But it's the training mentality that permeates throughout Nova Uniao that he said acts as a motivator for everyone in the gym.

"No one is treated like a champion," Sandro said. "I think one of the academy's strong points is how everyone works equally hard. Here, no one skimps on training and no one acts above their peers."

Though Sandro said he will avoid looking down the road at avenging losses to Curran or Straus, there is one thing he's hopeful for in the future that he would love to be able to dream about. And that's Bellator putting on a show in Brazil so he can fight in front of his home country again.

The promotion has said it has plans to do a show in Brazil, but there has been no announcement or official timetable. Sandro is banking on the promotion's new home on Spike TV will help it get a surge in popularity that could lead to a show, finally, outside of North America.

"Now with Spike, we can only go up," he said. "Plus we are waiting for Bellator to book its first card in Brazil. I hope they do that. Sometimes it's a bit disappointing not to have the same recognition in one's own country, as opposed to what we see in the U.S. or Canada. Like (Bellator lightweight) Ricardo Tirloni, I've also been proposing a Bellator card in Brazil. The crowd would be strongly behind us."