Bellator returns to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut for the second straight night for Bellator 216. In the main event, the long-awaited showdown between Michael “Venom” Page and Paul “Semtex” Daley finally takes place. Michael Page enters Saturday night’s fight against Paul Daley undefeated at 13-0. Page’s last fight was at Bellator 200 where he finished David Rickels in the second round. In the thirty-one-year-old’s thirteen wins, eleven are via (T)KO. Page’s resume doesn’t jump off the page at you, making a win over Daley the biggest of his career.
Paul Daley is only four years older than Michael Page, but he has a whopping forty-three more pro fights and a ton more wear and tear. Daley is 2-3 over his last five fights. He has wins over Brennan Ward and Lorenz Larkin, to go along with losses to Doug Lima, Rory MacDonald, and Jon Fitch. Two of the three losses went to the judge’s scorecards. Daley has forty career wins, thirty are via (T)KO and two are by submission.
The co-main pits two longtime MMA veterans when Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic steps into the cage opposite Roy “Big Country” Nelson. Filipovic will look to avenge his loss to Nelson back at UFC 137. The forty-four year will make the walk for the forty-eighth time. He enters Saturday night’s fight riding a nine-fight win streak. All nine wins ended inside the distance. The previous six took place under the Rizin Fighting Federation banner. Of the Croatian’s thirty-seven career wins, thirty-four didn’t make it the scorecards.
Roy Nelson is 2-3 over his previous five and 1-2 since coming to Bellator. He’s lost two straight, first to Matt Mitrione at Bellator 194 and most recently to Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 207. He was stopped in both fights. The forty-two-year-old American has nineteen stoppages in twenty-three career wins.
The five-fight main card also includes Cheick Kongo going up against Vitaly Minakov, Yaroslav Amosov vs. Erick Silva and Valerie Loureda takes on Colby Fletcher.
Note: The predictions in this column do not necessarily mean that I will be betting them. I have changed my mind in the past and gone the other way after conducting more research. For all of my official bets follow me on Twitter @MichaelGrocke.
Main Card
Michael Page (13-0) vs. Paul Daley (40-16-2) – Welterweight 170 lbs.
Current Odds: Page -220; Daley +180
Pick: Page by Decision. However, Daley is a live dog here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pull off the upset.
Mirko Filipovic (37-11-2) vs. Roy Nelson (23-16) – Heavyweight 265 lbs.
Current Odds: Filipovic -160; Nelson +140
Pick: Filipovic by Decision
Cheick Kongo (29-10-2) vs. Vitaly Minakov (20-0) – Heavyweight 265 lbs.
Current Odds: Minakov -515; Kongo +410
Pick: Minakov by (T)KO.
Yaroslav Amosov (20-0) vs. Erick Silva (20-9) – Welterweight 170 lbs.
Current Odds: Amosov -300; Silva +250
Pick: Amosov by (T)KO.
Valerie Loureda (2-1) vs. Colby Fletcher (1-2) – Flyweight 125 lbs.
Current Odds: N/A
Pick: Loureda by Submission
NEXT: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY FROM UFC 234
Prelims Quick Look
Casey over Mirkhojaev
Rocha over Kosakowski
De Jesus over Barcellos
Fortune over Pokryfky
Lachinov over Xhema
Rodriguez over Plaza
Felix over Sumter
Enjoy the fights!
Leave a Reply