Tag: Bellator News

Aaron Pico Obliterates Leandro Higo In First Round

Pico made quick work of Higo at #Bellator206.

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Aaron Pico continues to make progression in his pro-MMA career as in his latest fight booking, he took on the always dangerous Leandro Higo.

As seen on the main card of Bellator 206 that went down on Saturday night (September 29, 2018) at the SAP Center in San Jose, California on their new streaming service home, DAZN, Pico defeated Higo by TKO in a featherweight bout. 

This fight didn’t last long as Pico was aggressive early and looking to knock Higo’s block off. Higo with two knees to the face to test the prospect. Pico hurts Higo but then Higo defended the onslaught against the fence very well. Hard right hand floors Higo and eventually gets the late stoppage. Color commentator and former referee, John McCarthy, was very critical of Mark Smith, who was serving as the referee for this fight as it should’ve been stopped earlier than it was.

As soon as Pico signed with Bellator MMA back in 2014, there was a ton of hype behind him due to his success as an American freestyle wrestler. Pico had no easy task in his Bellator MMA debut at the Bellator NYC on pay-per-view event against Zach Freeman in a lightweight bout. This fight did not last long. In the world of Mauro Ranallo, who made his Bellator MMA debut as a commentator, this was over in a New York minute.

Most thought that this had to hurt the confidence of Pico, who was highly hyped leading into this bout despite the fact that he had no MMA experience before. Luckily for him, he signed a multi-fight contract with the promotion and got more fights under his belt to not only improve on his skills but to impress Bellator brass. Since then, he scored three straight finishes by strikes over the likes of Justin Linn, Shane Krutchen, and Lee Morrison.

On the flip side, Higo made his Bellator debut as a late replacement for Darrion Caldwell against Eduardo Dantas in a non-title bout at Bellator 177 but lost by decision. In his next two fights, he would pick up a decision win over Joe Taimanglo and lose in his latest bout to Darrion Caldwell by submission.

Aaron Pico def. Leandro Higo by TKO (strikes) at 3:19 of round 1

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Betting Odds For Bellator 206: Is Rory MacDonald Favored In Historic Fight?

Final betting odds are in.

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The final Bellator 206 betting odds are in for as this event is quickly approaching for the Viacom-owned promotion.

Bellator 206 is here, and it goes down tonight (Saturday, September 29, 2018) from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The preliminary card will air online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card will air on DAZN at 10:00 PM EST.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Rory MacDonald for the middleweight title will serve as the headliner. Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva in a heavyweight bout will be the co-main event, which marks the fourth time they have fought each other.

Rounding out the six bout main card is Andrey Koreshkov vs. Douglas Lima  in a welterweight tournament opening round, Leandro Higo vs. Aaron Pico in a featherweight bout, Keri Melendez vs. Dakota Zimmerman in a women’s strawweight bout, and Gaston Bolanos vs. Ysidro Gutierrez in a featherweight bout.

According to oddsmakers, Mousasi is a -250 favorite over MacDonald, who is a +195 underdog. Other odds for the main card include Silva being a +245 underdog against Jackson, who is a -315 favorite. Here are the rest of the odds for the card:

Main Card (DAZN, 10 p.m. ET)

Gegard Mousasi -250 Rory MacDonald +195

Quinton Jackson -315 Wanderlei Silva +245

Douglas Lima +110 Andrey Koreshkov -140

Aaron Pico -550 Leandro Higo +375

Ysidro Gutierrez +325 Gaston Bolanos -450

Dakota Zimmerman +475 Keri Melendez -750

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Rory MacDonald ‘Would Prefer’ To Defend Two Titles Simultaneously

Rory MacDonald ‘Would Prefer’ to defend two titles simultaneously if victorious at Bellator 206. On Saturday (Sept. 29, 2018) night, the “Red King” will attempt to capture his second world championship in a major MMA promotion. If MacDonald is victorious he will become only the sixth fighter to hold two titles simultaneously. Randy Couture, BJ […]

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Rory MacDonald ‘Would Prefer’ to defend two titles simultaneously if victorious at Bellator 206.

On Saturday (Sept. 29, 2018) night, the “Red King” will attempt to capture his second world championship in a major MMA promotion. If MacDonald is victorious he will become only the sixth fighter to hold two titles simultaneously. Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, and Daniel Cormier are the others.

The man standing in MacDonald’s way is Bellator’s middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. A win for Mousasi doesn’t equate to another title, but a win over the “Red King” would sure be a feather in the cap of the Dutchman.

The “Red King” Speaks

Speaking with reporters at the Bellator 206 media day MacDonald explained how he is 100% focused on the upcoming welterweight Grand Prix. But if he does beat Mousasi he would love to defend both titles.

 “I would like to,” MacDonald told MMAWeekly.com when asked about defending both titles. “I’d have to talk with Bellator because I have the obligation of doing the welterweight tournament and that’s going to take about a year. I’m sure that the other middleweights are going to want a crack at the championship fight so I guess we’re going to have to see.”

“If I became the middleweight champion, I would prefer to stay that way. I wouldn’t want to get stripped but I understand I have an obligation at welterweight doing that tournament. We’ll see.”

MacDonald is set to defend his welterweight title in the opening round of the Grand Prix. He will face former UFC title challenger Jon Fitch early next year.

What Scott Coker Thinks

Bellator President Scott Coker isn’t exactly against MacDonald holding on to the middleweight strap while he participates in the Grand Prix. However, he hasn’t made any decisions on the matter either.

“Rory will enter the 170-pound tournament after his fight with Gegard so we’ll talk to Rory and see how he felt and a lot of it will depend on what the fighter wants to do,” Coker told MMAWeekly.com. “That door is open and we’re not going to close it.”

Bellator 206 takes place at SAP Center in San Jose, California and also features a fourth fight between Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. The welterweight Grand Prix kicks off with a trilogy between former champs Lima and Andrey Koreshkov.

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Scott Coker Discusses Eddie Alvarez Possibly Re-Signing With Bellator

Could “The Underground King” be on his way back to Bellator?

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There’s been a ton of speculation on if Eddie Alvarez could be returning to Bellator MMA.

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker was asked about the matter by MMA Fighting at Bellator 206 media day. In regards to seeing Alvarez back in Bellator, Coker said it doesn’t seem likely at this point. He admitted Bellator personnel spoke to Alvarez, but nothing came out of it :

“It doesn’t seem likely at this point,” Coker said. “I think that they had a conversation with Eddie and I’m not sure where it’s at. But I don’t think it took a second, it wasn’t like it was something that was picking up any steam so I’m not sure.”

Alvarez was previously with Bellator and was essentially the face of the promotion. He even competed on Bellator 1 in 2009. “The Underground King” put on a pair of absolute classic 155-pound title fights with Michael Chandler.

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia native didn’t get along too well with former promotion President Bjorn Rebney. He was later released from his contract in 2014 before signing with the UFC. Alvarez defeated Rafael dos Anjos via first-round knockout to win the UFC lightweight title in July of 2016.

Later that year, Alvarez would be one-half of one of the biggest fights in UFC history. He headlined the UFC’s first card from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Unfortunately for him, he dropped the 155-pound title to Conor McGregor via second-round knockout.

Alvarez fought out the final bout on his UFC contract this past July. He put on a heavy-hitting affair with Dustin Poirier in Calgary, which he lost via TKO. It will be interesting to see where “The Underground King” winds up.

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Gegard Mousasi Hints At Heavyweight Move Before Retiring

Gegard Mousasi could move up to heavyweight before hanging up his gloves.

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Current Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has silently had an extremely impressive career as a mixed martial artist.

Mousasi is gearing up to defend his 185-pound title against welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. That will happen this weekend (Sat. September 29, 2018) in the main event of Bellator 206. The 33-year-old has had a long career, fighting since 2003.

While he doesn’t have much time left in the sport, Mousasi tells MMA Fighting he wants to do more “fun fights” once he begins to wind down in his career. That could include a jump up to heavyweight:

“I think as I get older, I’m going to look for the fun fights. Maybe heavyweight, light heavyweight. I’m tired of the weight cut, so I’ll want to fight at the highest levels for these four fights, and then from there fight old men,” Mousasi said.

“I don’t know. I think I will be close to the end of my career, so if I continue to fight, I would like to have more comfort. I don’t want to lose a lot of weight anymore. I’ll fight heavyweight too, I don’t have a problem with that.

“I always said after these four fights, I would want to retire, but like I said, everything depends on the result. If I win every fight in four or five minutes, I keep winning, yeah, the desire will be to continue. But if I have fights like Shlemenko, then I have to rethink [things].”

Mousasi is currently on a seven-fight win streak that extends back to his days in the UFC. He has not lost since being TKO’d by Uriah Hall back in 2015. Finishing all but one of his seven wins, Mousasi eventually found himself holding the Bellator middleweight title.

If Mousasi’s career is indeed winding down, it should be interesting to see if he does decide to jump up to heavyweight.

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Bellator 206 Preview, Predictions & Analysis

Bellator is back with perhaps their best card ever on paper with tomorrow night’s (Sat., September 29, 2018) Bellator 206 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The main card will stream live on new Bellator partner DAZN. The card’s headlining bout features a highly anticipated middleweight super fight between 185-pound Gegard Mousasi and welterweight […]

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Bellator is back with perhaps their best card ever on paper with tomorrow night’s (Sat., September 29, 2018) Bellator 206 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

The main card will stream live on new Bellator partner DAZN. The card’s headlining bout features a highly anticipated middleweight super fight between 185-pound Gegard Mousasi and welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. In the co-main event, former PRIDE rivals Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva will meet for an incredible fourth time.

The Bellator World Welterweight Grand Prix will also kick off at the event. Former champions Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov will square off in the inaugural bout of the buzzworthy tournament. Touted rising star Aaron Pico also has next fight on the main card, facing Leandro Higo on his continued rise.

All of that adds up to an incredibly packed Bellator 206 main card. We broke down the important aspects of each major bout. Check out our Bellator 206 preview, predictions, and analysis here.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Rory MacDonald

Hyperbole aside, this is probably the biggest fight Bellator could put on right now due to the track record of both fighters.

Mousasi has won seven straight bouts since his fluky TKO loss to Uriah Hall in September 2015. He’s finished five of those opponents by knockout and may be at his peak as a result. Mousasi did have some trouble in his Bellator debut against Alexander Shlemenko. He most recently destroyed former champion Rafael Carvalho in one round at May’s Bellator 200.

Likewise, MacDonald has been on a tear since coming to Bellator, albeit a smaller one. He’s won both of his fights against Paul Daley and Lima, winning the belt from the latter at Bellator 192 this January.

Both of these fighters bring a wealth of relevant in-cage knowledge and experience, a wholly well-rounded skillset, and the experience to back it up. Therefore, this is truly as elite a fight Bellator could make. In honesty, Mousasi and MacDonald are somewhat similar in style. They both employ crisp, accurate, and measured striking on the feet, choosing to pick their spots with peerless efficiency. Mousasi has shown much more knockout power on the feet, however, and does hold a size edge here.

Both can also finish the fight when it hits the ground. While neither is known as a world-class wrestler, both can take nearly any opponent down and defend opposing takedowns sufficiently. If and when the bout hits the ground, both fighters can absolutely finish the fight with an extensive list of submissions. Mousasi is a black belt in judo and MacDonald is in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

That all boils down to an incredibly close fight on paper. When that happens, the size advantage may play the biggest deciding factor. As you can see from above, Mousasi is the bigger fighter. It’ll be close, but I think he outlasts MacDonald by decision in a back-and-forth battle.

Prediction: Gegard Mousasi def. Rory MacDonald via unanimous decision

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