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Bellator 226 Betting Preview, Predictions & Picks

Bellator 226 Betting Preview, Predictions & Picks

Written by on September 3, 2019

Bellator News and Betting Previews | Xbet.ag
SAP Center in San Jose, California, is the site for this Bellator 226: Bader vs Kongo, on Saturday. This event will show the four first-round matchups in the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix, and the main event is the Bellator Heavyweight Championship bout, featuring current champion Ryan Bader and challenger Cheick Kongo. The Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix will last three rounds, with the winner walking away with $1 million and the division title, so for all eight of these fighters, you can expect maximum effort in each round. You can catch the whole event on DAZN. We have the full fight card for you, as well as Bellator betting thoughts on some of the key matchups.

Bellator 226 Betting Preview, Predictions & Picks

Main Card (10:00pm ET)

  • Ryan Bader vs Cheick Kongo (Bellator Heavyweight Championship)
  • Sam Sicilia vs Roberto de Carvalho (Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix First Round)
  • Daniel Straus vs Derek Campos (Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix First Round)
  • Pat Curran vs Adam Borics (Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix First Round)
  • Emmanuel Sanchez vs Tywan Claxton (Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix First Round)
  • Gaston Bolanos vs Daniel Carey (Featherweight)

Preliminary Card (6:30pm ET)

  • John Macapa vs Ashleigh Grimshaw (Featherweight)
  • Ivan Batinich vs Daniel Compton (Middleweight)
  • Cornelius Savage vs Evan Gubera (Middleweight)
  • Christopher Gonzalez vs Luis Vargas (Lightweight)
  • Cass Bell vs Isaiah Rocha (Bantamweight)
  • Favian Gutierrez vs Alan Benson (Middleweight)
  • Amber Leibrock vs Jessica Borga (Women’s Featherweight)
  • Peter Ishiguro vs Elias Anderson (Catchweight – 140 lbs)
  • James Terry vs Batsumberel Dagvadorj (Welterweight)
  • Daniel Gonzalez vs Jonathan Adams (Flyweight)
  • Adam Piccolotti vs Jacob Smith (Lightweight)
  • Hyder Amil vs Ignacio Ortiz (Featherweight)
  • Abraham Vaesau vs Renato Alves (Welterweight)
  • Albert Gonzalez vs Tyson Miller (Catchweight – 180 lbs)

Ryan “Darth” Bader (27-5) vs Cheick Kongo (30-10-2)

This fight gives us a champ in Bader who is riding a seven-bout winning streak. As a part of Bellator, Bader has done nothing but win, starting with a light heavyweight championship victory against Phil Davis and a subsequent defense against Linton Vassell. Then he entered the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix, advancing to the finals, where he beat Fedor Emelianenko for the then-vacant title. He is the first Bellator fighter ever to hold two belts at the same time. Before winning those five straight Bellator fights, he had beaten Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ilir Latifi in UFC. Of Bader’s 27 wins, 12 have come by knockout or TKO, giving him a 44 percent knockout rate, and he has tapped out three fighters for an 11 percent submission rate. His five career losses all came when he was fighting in UFC. Kongo moved from UFC to Bellator after losing to Roy Nelson at UFC 159. In his debut, Kongo entered the Bellator heavyweight tournament, defeating Mark Godbeer to make the final and then taking the tournament win by beating Peter Graham on the cards. This gave him a fight against Vitaly Minakov, the undefeated heavyweight champion. Minakov beat Kongo on the cards unanimously. Kongo beat Minakov in a rematch, giving him an eight-fight winning streak that goes back to 2015. He has knocked out 15 of his opponents in wins, giving him a 50 percent knockout rate, and he has delivered three submission wins. Bellator 226 Prediction: Bader wins via decision Sam Sicilia (16-9) vs Roberto de Carvalho (10-3) The fight gives us a former UFC fighter in Sicilia entering his first Bellator tournament. Sicilia has more experience than de Carvalho, and so the fight will come down to youth versus experience. De Carvalho likes to keep coming forward and bring the pressure, and Sicilia brings an aggressive style of his own to the sport. The fact that there is a $1 million purse waiting for the winner of this tournament serves as additional motivation — particularly in a promotion such as Bellator. Bellator 226 Prediction: Sicilia wins via decision
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