Bellator was back in action last night (Friday, October 21, 2016) for its 162nd event. The event featured a headlining bout with top middleweight attractions Alexander Shlemenko and Kendall Grove. Overall on the night, six betting favorite were victorious while two underdogs picked up wins based on Several Bookmakers‘s closing odds. Bellator 162 Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, middleweights Kendall Grove and Alexander Shlemenko put on a very entertaining battle. Both men had their moments in a back-and-forth first round, but Shlemenko iced the victory with a hard left hand to the liver which crumpled Grove in the second, setting up a ground and pound TKO victory for the Russian. Shlemenko pulled it out as a -255 (Bet $255 to win $100) favorite while Grove was a +235 underdog. In a heavyweight attraction, Bobby Lashley utilized his size, strength and superior wrestling to dominate Josh Appelt, gaining top position for a large majority of the fight en route to setting up a rear naked choke victory near the midway point of the second round. Lashley came through as a massive -450 favorite while Appelt was +400. In a lightweight bout, Ryan Couture aggressively pushed the pace against Goiti Yamouchi but that was a mistake as Yamouchi pounced on an armbar after Couture took him down, forcing a quick tap from Couture just 61 seconds into the fight. Yamouchi was a -310 favorite to Couture’s +280. In middleweight action, AJ Matthews had his moments against Hisaki Kato, even rocking the brawler in the first round, but Kato got a second wind and landed a series of blows as he backed Matthews up against the fence which set up a TKO victory. Kato came through as a -165 favorite while Couture was +155. In a heavyweight clash, Chase Gormley survived an early knockdown from Bobby Brents to come on strong late and win a split decision. Both men had their moments, but Gormley had more gas in the tank and dominated the third round to earn the nod. Gormley was a -150 favorite while Brents was +120. In women’s featherweight bout, Julia Budd fought a safe gameplan, landing straight punches from range before picking up takedowns in each round to win a one-sided bout which resulted in a surprising majority decision. Budd was a -675 favorite while Blencowe was a +450 dog. Bellator 162 Underdogs that Won In the biggest upset of the evening, Virgil Zwicker moved up to heavyweight to not only beat the bigger, stronger Dan Charles, but knock him out. Charles started strong but gassed as the fight wore on and Zwicker punished him with heavy combinations near the end of the second round to force a stoppage. Zwicker was victorious despite being a +150 (Bet $100 to win $150) underdog while Charles lost as a -180 favorite. In a welterweight bout, Ricky Rainey pulled out a decision victory over TUF veteran Gilbert Smith. Rainey was able to utilize his superior striking while avoiding Smith’s takedowns for a majority of the fight to sway the judges. Rainey was a slight +110 underdog while Smith was -140.
