Bellator 137 airs Friday night on SPIKETV, and the card features a main event featuring middleweight champion Brandon Halsey making his first title defense against Kendall Grove. Halsey is still just 8-0, but he captured the belt in impressive fashion as he choked out long-time titleholder Alexander Shlemenko in less than one minute. Grove is an experienced fighter (21-14) who is 2-1 with Bellator and is four years removed from his UFC run. Since leaving the UFC, he is a pedestrian 9-5, meaning he probably doesn’t deserve a title shot.
The co-main event features the return of former bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas, who has not fought since losing the belt to Joe Warren back in October. His opponent, Mike Richman, is a Bellator veteran who is coming off two straight first round KO wins, and he has an overall 18-5 record in MMA, meaning he has similar experience and ring-time to Dantas, who is 16-4 overall.
The welterweight bout between Fernando Gonzalez and Curtis Millender is one to watch, as Millender is looking to establish himself with Bellator after flopping in his first Bellator fight and getting beat in less than two minutes. Meanwhile, Gonzalez has rejuvenated his career with three wins in a row under Bellator’s promotion.
The last main card fight has wrestling stud Darrion Caldwell (6-0) taking on his most experienced opponent yet as he faces Brazil’s Rafael Silva (22-4).
The sport books have released lines for the “main” four fights on this thirteen fight card. Check out the latest video blog where we get into the numbers at the books for the four main fights of Bellator 137.
