Bellator was back in action last night (Friday, September 16, 2016) for its 161st event. The event featured a huge headlining bout with top heavyweight attractions Tony Johnson Jr and Cheick Kongo. Overall on the night, two betting favorite were victorious while two underdogs picked up wins based on Several Bookmakers‘s closing odds. Bellator 161 Favorites That Won In a women’s flyweight bout, Anastasia Yankova survived an early onslaught of superior striking from Veta Arteaga to win a controversial decision. Arteaga clearly won the first round and looked like she had done enough to win the second. Yankova finally started doing some damage in the third, but it seemed like it was too little too late until it was time for the judges. Instead, the judges awarded Yankova the victory via split decision and the crowd let them have it. Yankova pulled it out as a -450 (Bet $450 to win $100) favorite while Arteaga was a +400 underdog. In the opening bout of the main card, lightweight Derek Campos survived being nearly knocked out by Djamil Chan in the first round to go on to win the second and third rounds to take a decision. It was a tremendous display of heart from Campos, who was dropped and hurt badly in the first frame. Campos was a -115 favorite while Chan was a +105 dog. Bellator 161 Underdogs that Won In the main event of the evening, heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Tony Johnson Jr threw down. It wasn’t the most action-packed fight, but all the rounds were clear. Kongo stole round one with a takedown and ground and pound in the final 30 seconds while Johnson Jr dominated the second round on the canvas with top position and threatening several chokes. The third round featured Kongo again scoring a takedown and riding it out to take a majority decision. Kongo was victorious despite being a +125 (Bet $100 to win $125) underdog while Johnson Jr lost as a -135 favorite. In a bantamweight bout, Joe Warren proved he still had something left in the tank against UFC veteran Sirwan Kakai. Kakai took the first round by actually getting the better of Warren on the canvas, but Warren bounced back with some thunderous knees in the second round which did damage. Warren landed another big knee in the third and then finished Kakai with a neck crank to score a submission victory. Warren pulled off the win as a +160 underdog while Kakai came up short for the third straight fight, this time as a -170 favorite.
