Bellator 128 took place Friday night at Winstar Casino Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and the card overall was solid as it featured a fantastic main event as well as a few other slick finishes. Overall from a betting perspective, two underdogs and two favorites won based on the closing odds at Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap for each fight. Underdogs That Won In the main event of the evening, Joe Warren defeated Eduardo Dantas via unanimous decision (48-47 x 3) to unify the Bellator bantamweight title. Warren used his Greco-roman wrestling to clinch Dantas up against the fence and he took him down at numerous points during the fight to score points, and the judges ended up giving him the decision based on his overall control and aggression. Warren won as a +450 underdog (bet $100 to win $450) while Dantas lost as a -525 favorite (bet $525 to win $100). In a middleweight bout, Emeliano Sordi defeated Bubba McDaniel via first-round submission (guillotine choke). The two fighters got into an early grappling exchange where eventually Sordi landed on the bottom with his arm around McDaniel’s neck in half guard, where McDaniel looked safe. But Sordi was able to get into full guard where he was then able to apply enough pressure around McDaniel’s neck that the American was forced to tap, giving the Argentinian the win. Sordi cashed as a +175 underdog, while McDaniel fell as a -190 favorite. Favorites That Won In a welterweight bout, Michael Page defeated Nah-Shon Burrell via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3). This wasn’t Page’s best performance in Bellator, but he did enough to get the win. We didn’t get to see his trademark striking, but we did see that he has improving wrestling skills as his takedown defence was on point all night and he even landed a takedown of his own. Basically, the fight consisted of Page stymieing Burrell’s takedown attempts, and when the fight was in the open Page landed the more effective strikes, although his activity level in this fight was not up to his normal standards. Still, he went the distance for the first time in his career and pretty easily won the decision. Page cashed at -475, while Burrell lost at +420. In a catchweight (160lbs) bout, Tiger Sarnavsiy defeated Dakota Cochrane via first-round submission (rear-naked choke). Sarnavskiy and Cochrane spent the majority of the first round pressed up against the cage, where the both exchanged knee strikes. Cochrane wasn’t able to get the takedown, though, and once the fight got back into the center of the Octagon he was in huge trouble as Sarnavskiy landed a flying knee that rocked Cochrane and dropped him to his knees. Seconds later, Sarnavskiy took his back and locked in the rear-naked choke for the win. Sarnavskiy was a -500 favorite at close while Cochrane closed as a +435 dog.
