After losing three straight fights in the UFC, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be making his Bellator debut on Friday night against Joey Beltran, who has returned to the league as well.
That won’t be the only fight to watch at Bellator 108, either. There are a number of interesting fights to watch between some great fighters, including a heavyweight title bout between Vitaly Minakov and Alexander Volkov.
Below is a quick look at where and when to catch Bellator 108, followed by some last-minute predictions for every main card fight.
Viewing Information
Date: Friday, Nov. 15
Venue: Revel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, N.J.
Main Card Start Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: Spike TV
Patricio Freire vs. Justin Wilcox
Is it finally time for Patricio Freire to take the featherweight title? With how well he’s fought recently, there’s a very good chance he can finally take the belt.
Freire has been close before, but he’s never had the chance to take the title. However, it appears he’s entering the prime of his career, breezing through the Season 9 featherweight tournament, which started by him knocking out Diego Nunes in the first round.
Meanwhile, Justin Wilcox is starting to slow down a bit. He’s 34 years old and doesn’t have the aggressiveness that Freire has, which is very bad news for him. Don’t expect this fight to last very long, as the Pitbull is on a mission.
Prediction: Freire wins by KO
Marcos Galvao vs. Tom McKenna
Perhaps the least well-known fighters in this event will be going head-to-head on Friday night, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be an entertaining fight.
Marcos Galvao hasn’t had a lot of national exposure in his fighting career. Not a lot of people have heard about him, but those who have remember him most for his knockout loss against bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas.
Still, Galvao has a good stand-up game with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, so he loves to work with his legs. Meanwhile, Tom McKenna is more of a wrestler that doesn’t have the most developed game standing up, as he’s patient and tends to try to eat leg kicks.
That could be a real problem for McKenna as the fight wears on, which is why Galvao should be able to come up with a nice win.
Prediction: Galvao wins by decision
Alexander Volkov vs. Vitaly Minakov
If you like heavyweight fighters that love to brawl, then you will love the fight between Volkov and Minakov.
The two Russian heavyweights excel in ending fights early. Minakov has gone 12-0 in his career, only having to go the distance once with seven knockouts and four submissions. Meanwhile, Volkov is 19-3 with 14 knockouts, and he hasn’t lost a fight since December of 2010. Minakov earned the opportunity to take on Volkov after destroying the competition in the 2013 summer tournament.
The big difference in this fight is going to be size, as Volkov is five inches taller than Minakov. I expect that to be too much for Minakov, leaving Volkov to retain his heavyweight title.
Prediction: Volkov wins by TKO
Joey Beltran vs. Quinton Jackson
The main event will certainly be interesting, to say the least.
Both fighters are currently on a bit of a slide. Beltran is just 1-4-1 over his last six fights, while Rampage has lost his last three, forcing him out of the UFC and into Bellator.
Honestly, this fight would have been a lot more exciting a few years ago, but now both of these guys will be fighting with nothing really on the line except a win or a loss.
At the same time, this is an opportunity for one of them to turn it around. Based off of their fighting styles, this could be a fight with a lot of punches thrown while standing up. If that’s the case, there actually could be some big blows and plenty of action.
If the fight turns out this way, I think Jackson can end his losing streak. He is the more athletic fighter of the two, and that should show on Friday night.
Prediction: Jackson wins by KO
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