One of the main card bouts at Bellator 119 is a three-round welterweight bout between Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis and Vaughn “Blud” Anderson. The current betting line for the fight at Several Bookmakers lists Zaromskis as a -290 favorite (bet $290 to win $100) while Anderson is a +230 underdog (bet $100 to win $290). MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas originally opened up Zaromskis at -315 and Anderson at +235, meaning there has been some slight action on the underdog Anderson. I disagree with the action on Anderson as I’m picking Zaromskis to win the fight. Here’s why. Zaromskis (19-8, 1 NC) is the former DREAM welterweight champion. The 33-year-old Lithuanian is 3-2 overall in Bellator with two wins over Waachiim Spiritwolf and a win over current UFC fighter Nordine Taleb, and with the losses coming to solid competition in Andrey Koreshkov and Brent Weedman. In addition to the wins over Spiritwolf and Taleb, the 33-year-old Zaromskis also holds notable career victories over Kazushi Sakuraba, Jason High, and Hayato Sakurai. A gifted striker who is known for his vicious high kicks and ridiculous summersault kicks, Zaromskis has scored 14 of his 19 career victories via knockout. However, he himself has been knocked out five times and it’s clear his chin is one of his biggest flaws. Still, he’s a solid striker with decent enough takedown defence and he has a favorable matchup this weekend at Bellator 119 against Anderson, and that’s why he is a big favorite going into the bout. Anderson (16-2-1) made his Bellator last year, losing to War Machine via submission in the welterweight tournament, a loss which snapped a 12-fight unbeaten streak for the Canadian native. However, keep in mind the level of competition Anderson fought in China was extremely poor, and despite his shiny record he has zero notable victories. Still, he has won most of his fights and should be given credit for doing so. Overall he’s a decently well-rounded fighter with some striking and submission ability. But he doesn’t excel in any one area of the game, and he also has poor defence on the feet and on the ground. And he’s 35, too. Basically, all signs point to him having a hard time dealing with Zaromskis this weekend, and that’s why you see him enter this fight as a sizeable underdog. As long as he doesn’t get caught with an errant punch, I believe that Zaromskis should be able to keep the fight standing and either outpoint Anderson on the feet en route to a decision victory, or possibly even score a knockout via strikes. At -290 I like Zaromskis as part of a two-team parlay as I think he should be a higher favorite in this matchup. I am a bit worried about the long layoff for him, but as long as he doesn’t show signs of extreme ring rust he should crush Anderson and I’m willing to make a play on him despite the layoff.
