Bellator 180 will be Bellator’s biggest event in history. This goes down Saturday at Madison Square Garden, and will feature 3 title fights. Let’s go over the Bellator 180 odds and preview this weekend’s action!
Bellator 180 Odds
Chael Sonnen (-150) vs Wanderlei Silva (+120)
This main event features two old bitter rivals. Given, this fight would be better suited if it were 2013, but nevertheless, it’s happening now! Sonnen and Silva have been jarring at each other for years and years, including brawling on The Ultimate Fighter. Now, under the Bellator banner, we’ll get some conclusion.
There’s no surprise that both Sonnen and Silva are on their last legs. Sonnen made a return to MMA after a 3 1/2 year lay off earlier this year. Unfortunately, Sonnen was choked out rather embarrassingly by Tito Ortiz. Not a good look for Sonnen, yet he’s a slight favorite in this match up. Why? Because Silva hasn’t fought since he KO’d Brian Stann back in 2013. Even then, he was looking fragile, old, and slow.
The fight
Stylistically, this fight is easy to narrow down to the different ways it could play out. I honestly see it coming down to cardio given that both Sonnen and Silva are fractions of what they were in their pimes (physicially-speaking). I doubt either of them has more than 5 mins of gas in their tanks.
You know Sonnen is going to be looking for that double leg of his to get Silva down. From top position, I see the fight being relatively easy for Chael. Maybe he’ll just try to grind him out, maybe he’ll look for a stpopage, or maybe he’ll look for a submission. I’m not expecting much from Silva on his back, although Chael has a knack for giving up submissions.
Wanderlei on the other hand will wait for his moment to explode. He’ll probably try to stuff Chael’s first takedown attempt and immediately flurry with windmill hooks. Maybe he can catch Chael with one of them and overwhelm him for a finish, but if doesn’t, you can bet Silva will gas.
The most plausible scenario is that Silva gasses himself out and Sonnen gets either a TKO or submission on the mat.
Fedor Emelianenko (+100) vs Matt Mitrione (-130)
In the co-main event, we have the return of “The Last Emperor”. This will be the most high-profile fight Fedor has been in since his Strikeforce days. This will also arguably be the toughest match up he’s had in a while. When you put that in combination with Fedor’s latest performance, I’m surprised he’s not a big underdog on these Bellator 180 odds. After all, Fabio Maldonado (a regular-sized light-heavyweight) was able to arguably beat Fedor and inflict a lot of damage on him.
Mitrione is a big, athletic heavyweight who moves like a much smaller man. He possesses some slick hands, footwork, and has a good win streak going in Bellator. The biggest weakness of Mitrione is his sometimes-questionable decision making during fights. There’s a chance he crumbles under the spot light and lets Fedor land his big overhand right. However, I’d say there’s a bigger chance he connects on Fedor as he rushes in, cracking the already-fragile chin and putting him unconscious early. Fedor’s best chances in this fight are to take Matt down where Matt has shown some glaring weaknesses.
Douglas Lima (+150) vs Lorenz Larkin (-195)
Larkin enters the Bellator cage for the first time in this welterweight title fight. He was a top contender in the UFC before leaving the promotion. Meanwhile, Lima is Bellator’s recent welterweight champ after he KO’d Andrey Koreshkov to be win the belt.
We haven’t seen the two compete against any similar competition, so it’s hard to compare each other’s performances.One thing we know for certain though is that Larkin is a legitimate threat. He possesses sharp, technical striking, throws a wide variety of techniques, and has stunning athetlicism. His losses are only to bigger opponents who have been able to grind him out. At 170 lbs, I think Larkin is one of the best welterweights on the planet.
We also know Lima is a great striker, but is a bit more of a powerhouse. He’s not quite as technically-proficient, and is much more willing to brawl with his opponents than Larkin is. Based on what I’ve seen from both, this fight will be a barn-burner between two guys willing to throw down on the feet. Larkin is more refined, so I think he’ll either take a close decision, or score a TKO late in the fight.
Aaron Pico (-165) vs Zach Freeman (+120)
Pico is really the one to pay attention to here. He’s one of the few “blue chip” prospects we have in the sport. He may be 0-0 as a professional MMA fighter, but he has an insane wrestling and boxing pedigree behind him. This is a guy who nearly made the US Olympic team in freestyle wrestling, and is a national boxing champion.
That being said, I’m suspecting he will still look the part of a very green, inexperienced fighter. I think he’ll struggle to tie everything together against Zach Freeman, who is an 8-2 pro. On a technical level, I expect Pico to show real promise, but that first fight under such big lights is a tough outting for anybody – no matter the amateur record. I find it very unlikely that Pico puts together a flawless performance. Rather, I expect he’ll have to weather some storms, find his composure, and probably win a solid decision. I would not bet on these Bellator 180 odds because of how unpredictable such young talent can be, but Pico is the bet.
Michael Chandler (-845) vs Brent Primus (+460)
Kicking off the Bellator 180 PPV is a lightweight title fight. Defending champion Michael Chandler has only ever lost to Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks. He recently defeated Benson Henderson by split decision. Chandler is easily one of the best lightweights on the planet. It’s no surprise he’s a near 8-to-1 favorite according to these Bellator 180 odds. His challenger, Primus, is a 7-0 prospect who is 5-0 in Bellator. He’ll likely have zero pressure on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Chandler could overlook his opponent by getting sucekd into the hype of the event. For that reason alone it may be worth betting against Chandler, but everything else points towards a cake walk.
Be sure to check back with Get More Sports for more MMA and Bellator 180 coverage! Thanks for reading!
