Bellator is back to action on what is a day full of MMA action. UFC 242 takes place in the afternoon, and Bellator 226 takes place at night. The evening will be the kickoff of the Bellator Featherweight tournament. The winner of the tourney will become champion, and win a 1 million dollar reward. The event will be headlined by Ryan Bader’s first defense of his Bellator Heavyweight championship against Cheick Kongo. I have listed my predictions below, and feel free to leave your thoughts as well!

Prelims
Catchweight (180): Albert Gonzalez (1-1) vs Tyson Miller (3-1)- Miller Unanimous Decision

Welterweight: Abraham Vaesau (5-2) vs Renato Alves (5-3)- Vaesau TKO

Featherweight: Hyder Amil (3-0) vs Ignacio Ortiz (2-0-1)- Amil Split Decision

Lightweight: Adam Piccolotti (11-3) vs Jake Smith (7-2)- Piccolotti Unanimous Decision

Flyweight: Daniel Gonzalez (2-2) vs Jon Adams (0-0-1)- Gonzalez TKO

Welterweight: James Terry (20-10) vs Batsumberel Dagvadorj (5-0-1)- Terry TKO

Catchweight (140): Peter Ishiguro (1-1) vs Elias Anderson (0-1)- Anderson Unanimous Decision

Women’s Featherweight: Amber Leibrock (3-3) vs Jessica Borga (2-2)- Leibrock TKO

Middleweight: Favian Gutierrez (2-2) vs Alan Benson (0-1)- Gutierrez TKO

Bantamweight: Cass Bell (3-0) vs Isaiah Rocha (1-0)- Rocha Split Decision

Lightweight: Christopher Gonzalez (2-0) vs Luis Vargas (2-3)- Gonzalez Unanimous Decision

Middleweight: Cornelius Savage (0-0) vs Evan Gubera (0-1)- Gubera Split Decision

Middleweight: Ivan Batinich (3-1) vs Daniel Compton (3-2)- Batinich Unanimous Decision

Featherweight: John Macapa (22-4-2) vs Ashleigh Grimshaw (20-10)- Macapa Submission

Main
Featherweight: Gaston Bolanos (5-1) vs Daniel Carey (5-3)- Bolanos TKO
Bolanos is a very skilled striker who has won of all his fights by way of knockout. He has a propensity to finish his fights with his hands, but likes to throw spinning attacks as well. His one loss was by submission, and that tends to be his one area of weakness so far. Carey prefers to use his takedowns, and ground and pound instead of striking. He has some submission skills, but tends to struggle if he can’t land the takedown. I have Bolanos winning this fight by way of knockout. I think he will keep the fight on the feet, and find a way to finish it there.

Featherweight: Emmanuel Sanchez (18-4) vs Tywan Claxton (5-0)- Claxton Unanimous Decision
Sanchez is a crowd pleasing fighter who always finds him self in exciting clashes. Sanchez doesn’t have knockout power, but has improved his striking arsenal on the feet. He likes to use low leg kicks, and blitz forward with multiple punch combos. Sanchez is a solid wrestler, and really excels on the mat with his slick Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The majority of his finishes are by submission, and he is known for his great cardio as well. He never stops working, and pressures his opponents from the opening bell. Claxton is very young in his MMA career, but has a ton of self confidence and inner belief. Claxton is a high level wrestler, and was a two time national qualifier at Ohio University. His wrestling is fantastic, but he has surprised people with his fast tracked striking. Claxton uses his athleticism to his advantage, and is unafraid to throw spinning attacks. He actually has ended one of his fights with a flying knee. His striking has vastly improved each fight, and he has become more than a wrestling only fighter. He has been relatively untested on the ground so his jiu-jitsu game is unknown at this point. The question will be how does he handle this huge step up in competition. I am actually picking Claxton, I think he will use his wrestling to ground Sanchez, and win by decision. Sanchez has had issues in the past with superior wrestlers, and I see Claxton exposing this weakness to his advantage.

Featherweight: Pat Curran (23-8) vs Adam Borics (13-0)- Borics Split Decision
Curran might be the most well rounded fighter in this tournament. Curran is technical on the feet, and uses his size as well as the reach to his advantage there. Curran excels with his kicks and knees, and can really do damage in the clinch. Curran is an solid wrestler, but has had trouble with takedown defense in the past. He has good submission defense, and can also threaten with chokes with his long arms and legs. Curran is a two time Bellator Featherweight champion, and has been in title contention for a long time. Borics might be the brightest prospect on Bellator’s roster today. “The Kid” from Hungary can do a little bit of everything. He has a flashy striking style, and likes to go for the home run as was the case in his last fight winning by flying knee. He like Curran, is very big for the division, and has a strong wrestling base to go with his striking. Adam has won the majority of his bouts by way of submission. He has a solid guard, and has won several fights with a triangle choke. He also likes to take the back on the mat, and uses the rear naked choke as well. Like Claxton, this will be Borics stiffest competition and certainly won’t be easy. I am going with “The Kid” I believe Borics will mix things up between striking and wrestling. I expect Curran to have success, and I could see this being a razor close decision. I just feel Borics is on a roll right now, and has more to gain from this tournament.

Featherweight: Daniel Straus (26-8) vs Derek Campos (19-9)- Straus Unanimous Decision
Straus is a former Bellator Featherweight champion looking to get his belt back. Straus excels in the world of wrestling. He has powerful double legs, and uses his athleticism to land takedowns from distance. Straus is physically strong, and likes to use his ground and pound after a takedown. Straus is a solid striker, and has some fight changing power if he connects clean. Despite his great wrestling, Straus has lost the majority of his fights by submission. He tends to be too aggressive at times, and puts himself in bad positions. He also has gassed out from wrestling so much in the later rounds of his fights. Campos is a game opponent always looking for an old school scrap. Campos is a crisp boxer who pushes forward with an aggressive pace. He doesn’t have the best defense, and will at times engage to frequently in a brawl. Campos is an average wrestler, but has solid submission skills on the mat. Campos has had trouble fighting at the upper class of Bellator’s Featherweight division. All of his losses have come against the best Bellator has to offer. Campos has a ton of heart, and is very difficult to put away with one punch. He is aggressive, and will be attacking until he can’t fight anymore. I have Straus winning this fight by decision. I believe he will use his wrestling to ground Campos, and grind out a decision victory.

Featherweight: Sam Sicilia (17-9) vs Pedro Carvalho (10-3)- Carvalho Submission
Sicilia has a boxing heavy base, and packs some serious power in his hands. Sicilia is a rare Featherweight with the ability to end a fight with one punch. Sicilia has a background in wrestling, but has had problems with takedown defense in the past. Sicilia has lost the majority of his fights by submission, and tries to avoid the ground game in most situations. Sicilia is somewhat of a one trick pony, but he does that one trick very well. Carvalho opened eyes with his knockout of the durable Derek Campos in his last fight. Carvalho is quick on the feet, and has improved his striking over his last several fights. Carvalho really excels on the ground, and has won the majority of his fights by submission. He trains out of the famous SBG Ireland team under John Kavanagh. I see Carvalho winning this fight by submission. I believe he will look to take this fight to the mat, and avoid getting into boxing contest with Sicilia.

Heavyweight: Ryan Bader (27-5) vs Cheick Kongo (30-10-2)- Bader TKO
Bader has developed into one of the best fighters in MMA today. He is currently the Bellator Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight champion, and is there first ever two-time simultaneous champion. Bader has become a feared knockout artist on the feet as his boxing has greatly improved. We also saw Bader start to develop his kicks in the Phil Davis rematch. Where Bader still shines is his top of the food chain wrestling. He was a two-time All American wrestler at Arizona State, and has some of the best pure wrestling in MMA today. Bader has become a much better top player, and showed strong ground and pound against Matt Mitrione. Bader is very physically strong, and will go for the occasional guillotine choke. However, he prefers to stay on top and use his top pressure to break his opponents. So far, his cardio has been great and has yet to gas out late into a fight. Kongo like Bader has revitalized his career after moving from the UFC to Bellator. Kongo is a chiseled Heavyweight in great condition at the age of 44. He is dangerous on the feet, and has legit knockout power in either hand. Kongo will have a significant size, height, and reach (Kongo’s Reach: 82 inches compared to Bader’s 74 inches) advantage as well in this fight. Cheick has greatly improved his offensive and defensive wrestling in Bellator. He used to struggle against wrestlers in the UFC, and then was suddenly taking people down in Bellator. Kongo is really strong in the clinch, and likes to use his heavy knees to the body from that position. The Frenchman is not much of a threat off of his back, and it will be interesting to see if he can get up after being taken down. This could be Kongo’s last shot at a championship in MMA with his older age. I have Bader winning this fight by TKO in the championship rounds. I feel he has the advantage in the wrestling, ground game, and youth on his side. Bader is on a roll, and honestly has never looked better. The same could be said for Kongo, but Bader’s performances have been much more dominant. The only way I see Bader losing if he leaves himself open on the feet. I see Bader wrestling from start to finish with a similar approach as his fight against Matt Mitrione.

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