On Feb. 13, the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, Calif. will play host to the Bellator 133 card headlined by Alexander Shlemenko and Melvin Manhoef middleweight tilt. The full card announced has 12 fights, and the main card will air on SpikeTV as usual. No odds are posted yet for this card, but the week of the fights should see the full range of options on the main card.
It will be interesting to see where the odds are set for Shlemenko-Manhoef, but most likely Shlemenko will come in as the favorite. On paper, this could be an all out slugfest, and those have a tendency to be unpredictable and anything can happen. At the end of the day, Manhoef’s ferocity has been offset by good strikers and Manhoef’s chin has been touched before. It is not clear what state Shlemenko is in mentally after literally being caught sleeping on the job in his last two fights, but a striking game has always been his comfort zone.
In the featherweight division, former champion Pat Curran looks to get back on track against Daniel Weichel. Weichel has an impressive 16 wins in his last 19 fights and he has a resume of over 40 fights total and he is looking to earn a title shot. Curran is coming off a title loss to Patricio Freire in his last outing, and a win here will likely set up the third fight of the trilogy with Freiere, against whom he is (1-1). A win here for Weichel would see him break the trio of Daniel Straus, Freirre and Curran, who have owned the top of the weight class with Bellator for some time now.
The main card will also feature women’s featherweight action as Julia Budd (6-2) takes on undefeated Talita Noguiera (6-0). It was good news to see that Bellator was re-activating the defunct women’s divisions, and at 145 lbs, this is a weight class the UFC has deliberately avoided due to politics. Budd has been in there with Ronda Rousey, and Noguiera is making here stateside debut, but overall look for Noguiera’s debut to be impressive.
Check out Bellator’s “trailer” for Bellator 133, announcing ticket sales and hyping the top fights on the card:
