Bellator 273 “Bader Vs Moldavsky” + Eagle FC 44 “Spong Vs Kharitonov” Breakdown – Weekly Report
The first UFC pay-per-view event of 2022 is behind us. There were many great battles, one of the belts changed its owner, so many stoppages and comebacks – UFC 270 will be a card to remember.
In the main event of the evening, Francis Ngannou got back into the game after losing the first two rounds to Ciryl Gane, switching strategy to “takedown offense and pressure”. The Cameroonian Heavyweight controlled the French juggernaut on the ground in the last three rounds. Interestingly, Francis officially became the first guy to take Gane down in 8 bouts, but he did it more than once! Gane came close to finishing Francis in the fifth via ankle lock but “The Predator” rolled to the side and saved his limb, winning the bout via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46).
The co-main event of the evening brought a trilogy between flyweight stars, the reigning defending champion Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo. The first bout ended in a draw, while Moreno scored a rear-naked choke victory in the second, but this time, Deiveson fought toe-to-toe with Mexican and pushed the pace for five rounds. Moreno got dropped twice, which gave “Figgy” edge on judges’ scorecards. The Brazilian reclaimed the belt with a unanimous decision nod (48-47 x 3).
Two Performance of the Night awards went to Vanessa Demopoulos, who pulled out an unrealistic armbar after being dropped by Silvana Gomez Juarez’s big right; and Said Nurmagomedov, a striking specialist who surprisingly choked out Daron Cruickshank’s wrestling phenom Cody Stamman after only 47 seconds in the first.
Victor Henry pulled out the greatest upset of the night, defeating -510 favorite Raoni Barcelos in his UFC debut, while Jasmine Jasudavicius outwrestled -235 Kay Hansen for a decision win in her first UFC outing.
But now it’s time to focus on the upcoming events. There is no UFC event this weekend, but don’t despair – you can enjoy Bellator 273 and Eagle FC 44 next weekend!
Image source: Twitter @BellatorMMA
Bellator 273 takes place on Saturday, January 29, Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. It is headlined by the 205-pound clash between the undisputed (former two-division) champ Ryan Bader and interim light heavyweight titleholder Valentin Moldavsky.
Moldavsky is well-rounded everywhere, while Bader mostly focuses his game on big hooks and wrestling background. It is very hard to put the former European and World Combat Sambo champion to sleep, as he lost only one bout to Amir Aliakbari via split decision. Valentin outworked the last four opponents for a unanimous decision victory, so Bader will have a hard time. Moldavsky’s not gonna gas in championship rounds. (you can check https://www.bestfightodds.com/ for fighters props and odds)
Prediction: Moldavsky to win (-320) or Moldavsky to win via decision (+225)
Check my main card predictions here –
You can see the full card here, but it might be a subject to change (https://www.bellator.com/ ):
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 10 PM ET):
Ryan Bader (c) (28-7-0) VS. Valentin Moldavsky (c) (11-1-0)
Benson Henderson (28 – 11 – 0) VS. Islam Mamedov (20 – 1 – 1)
Henry Corrales (19 – 6 – 0) VS. Aiden Lee (10 – 5 – 0)
Sabah Homasi (15 – 10 – 0) VS. Jaleel Willis (15 – 3 – 0)
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 PM ET):
Weber Almeida (5 – 1 – 0) VS. Fabricio Franco (8 – 4 – 0)
Enrique Barzola (16 – 5 – 2) VS. Darrion Caldwell (14 – 5 – 0)
Saad Awad (24 – 13 – 0) VS. Chris Gonzalez (6 – 1 – 0)
Duane Johnson (6 – 2 – 0) VS. Dalton Rosta (5 – 0 – 0)
Nikita Mikhailov (8 – 1 – 0) VS. Blaine Shutt (8 – 5 – 0)
Lucas Brennan (5 – 0 – 0) VS. Benjamin Lugo (5 – 4 – 0)
Sullivan Cauley (2 – 0 – 0) VS. Ben Parrish (5 – 1 – 0)
Khabib’s promotion Eagle FC is famous because there are no ring girls, as Khabib called them “useless”.
It gathers former UFC stars and rising prospects, but the promotion should definitively work on matchmaking.
Eagle FC 44 takes place on Friday, January 28th, in Miami, Florida, and kicks off at 6 PM ET, and it airs on FLXcast. It is headlined by the clash of Surinamese striking specialist and the former WBC WBO Latino heavyweight boxing title owner Tyrone Spong and the former Pride FC/Bellator star Sergei Kharitonov.
Kharitonov, +159 underdog, competed in boxing too, but he’s way better on the ground than -189 favorite Spong. Yet, Tyrone could catch him with a big punch or kick, so the fight will not go the distance sounds like a good pick here.
Here is the event breakdown –
Here is the whole card:
Tyrone Spong (2 – 0 – 0) VS. Sergei Kharitonov (33 – 9 – 0)
Gabriel Checco (12 – 5 – 0) VS. Rashad Evans (19 – 8 – 1)
Ray Borg (14 – 5 – 0) VS. Cody Gibson (18 – 7 – 0)
John Howard (29 – 17 – 1) VS. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (9 – 0 – 0)
Raimond Magomedaliev (8 – 1 – 0) VS. Anthony Njokuani (16 – 12 – 0)
Arman Ospanov (11 – 4 – 0) VS. Dylan Salvador (3 – 1 – 0)
Shaun Asher (13 – 4 – 1) VS. Yorgan De Castro (7 – 3 – 0)
Miles Hunsinger (7 – 0 – 0) VS. Demarques Jackson (11 – 6 – 0)
Shawn Bunch (10 – 5 – 0) VS. Firdavs Khasanov (8 – 2 – 0)
Loik Radzhabov (15 – 4 – 1) VS. Zach Zane (15 – 9 – 0)
Sitik Muduev (9 – 2 – 0) VS.Ayadi Majdeddine (10 – 3 – 0)
Enjoy this weekend and get ready for UFC Fight Night “Hermansson Vs Strickland” next Saturday!
[…] was no UFC card last week, but Bellator’s main card brought four upsets. Ryan Bader retained the Heavyweight title, […]