Bellator Milan: Gallagher vs. Ellenor takes place on Saturday, October 3 at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the event, and MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a look at the opening odds below.
Bellator Milan Odds
James Gallagher -300
Cal Ellenor +250
Charlie Ward -450
Andy Manzolo +350
Kiefer Crosbie -250
Charlie Leary +210
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds For Bellator Milan 2:
- The main event is a three-round bantamweight bout between Gallagher and Ellenor. Gallagher (10-1) is one of Bellator’s biggest European stars these days. The 23-year-old Irishman signed with Bellator in 2016 and has since gone onto achieve a 7-1 record in the Bellator cage. After suffering his first and only career loss to Ricky Bandejas in 2018, Gallagher has won his last three straight fights with victories over Roman Salazar, Jeremiah Labiano, and Steven Graham. He also has a notable win over Chinzo Machida. His opponent Ellenor (8-2) is a one-time Bellator veteran, having defeated Nathan Greyson in his last fight. Both Gallagher and Ellenor haven’t fought since 2019 so the layoffs for both are certainly a worry here. But overall it’s hard to go against Gallagher. Bellator made this fight for him to get a big win and re-emerge as one of the promotion’s top prospects, and I think he finishes this fight by stoppage.
- At middleweight, we have Ward taking on Manzolo. Ward (8-4) had a cup of coffee in the UFC back in 2016 and lost back-to-back fights to Abdul Razak Alhassan and Galore Bofando. He then signed with Bellator and has gone 5-1 in the promotion so far. Ward is certainly a powerful puncher and the majority of his wins have come by knockout. However, he has holes in his game and it’s surprising to see him as a massive favorite here. Manzolo (23-8) is a long-time veteran of the sport and has fought once in Bellator, losing by submission to Kent Kauppinen in 2019. He has since bounced back with a submission win on the European regional scene. Manzolo has been knocked out three times in his career and Ward is a heavy puncher, so that’s likely the reason the oddsmakers have Ward listed as such a big favorite here. But honestly, I feel like it’s dog-or-pass. I just couldn’t lay that big of a price on a flawed fighter like Ward. Either you take a shot on a big dog here in Manzolo or you just pass on it.
- At a 160lbs catchweight bout we have Crosbie taking on Leary. Crosbie (8-1) is 4-1 overall in Bellator and he has won his last two fights in the promotion. As for Leary (16-11-1), he’s 2-2 so far in Bellator but his level of opposition hasn’t been the greatest. Just looking deeper at Leary’s record and you can see that he has quite a few losses and most of the fighters who beat him aren’t anything special. This is a clear fade on Leary and you have to go with Crosbie here. I am also leaning towards Crosbie getting the finish in this fight.
