Michael Hutchinson takes a quick look at tonight’s Bellator 148 card in Fresno.
What started as a small Welterweight tournament will now turn into a showcase fight for one of Bellator’s most dynamic fighters. Bellator 148 was originally headlined by Josh Koscheck, who pulled out of the card after an injury. The fight would likely have been a tune up fight for Koscheck before facing rival Paul Daley, who now headlines the card against Andy Uhrich.
I’ll take a brief look at the main card fights here. As usual, the show will air on Spike TV at 9pm ET.
The notorious Englishman will be looking to continue his winning ways in Bellator MMA when he faces Andy Uhrich. “Semtex” is on a four fight winning streak, with his last win coming by TKO over Dennis Olson. Daley (37-13-2) is a massive favorite on the betting lines heading into the fight.
His opponent, Andy Uhrich, is making his return to Bellator MMA after putting together a three-fight winning streak outside of the promotion. Uhrich (11-5) won his Bellator debut in 2012, but was released after losing back-to-back fights.
Chris Honeycutt vs. Paul Bradley
The co-main event of the night will see a rematch between two standout wrestlers in Honeycutt and Bradley. Their first fight ended in a No Contest after an accidental clash of heads resulted in a fight ending cut on Paul Bradley’s head.
Honeycutt (6-0) is hoping to extend his perfect professional record from six wins to seven in his fight with Bradley. The two time Division I All American is a -300 favorite in the fight. Bradley (22-6) is looking for his first two-fight winning streak since 2012. The former UFC Welterweight has alternated wins and losses in his past four fights, excluding the recent No Contest.
Tony Johnson vs. Raphael Butler
Heavyweight prospect Tony Johnson will get his second big test in the Bellator cage when he faces Raphael Butler. Johnson (9-2) won his Bellator debut last April with a split decision win over Bellator and M-1 veteran Alexander Volkov. The AKA product also holds wins over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia and current UFC Heavyweight Derrick Lewis. His first professional loss came to his now-teammate and UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier.
Raphael Butler (9-1-1) will look to spoil the party for Johnson and derail his hype train. The +270 underdog began his Bellator MMA career with a three-fight win streak. He stumbled a bit with a draw against Nick Rossborough before being submitted by Javy Ayala in his next fight. Butler’s most recent fight was a quick submission win over Josh Diekmann.
Patricky Freire vs. Ryan Couture
The bigger of the two Pitbull Brothers aims to get the family back in the win column at Bellator 148. The Brazilian Lightweight Freire (14-7) is taking a quick turnaround fight after losing a controversial split decision against Derek Anderson at Bellator 147. In an odd scenario, Anderson was quickly scheduled to fight Ryan Couture after his win over Pitbull, but was injured and quickly replaced by the man he had just beaten.
Couture (10-3) is riding a four- fight winning streak after his release from the UFC. His last four fights have all been submission wins, the most recent over Dakota Cochrane at Bellator 135. A win would give the 33-year-old Couture his biggest winning streak in his professional career, and improve his Bellator record to 3-0.