MMA Betting Odds and Ends for Monday: Tom DeBlass Unretires to Join Bellator

Bellator-95 Former UFC light heavyweight and middleweight Tom DeBlass is returning to MMA. The New Jersey native retired after losing to Riki Fukuda at UFC on FUEL TV 6, which was his second-straight loss in the UFC after being defeated by Cyrille Diabate at UFC on FUEL TV 2. However, he’s decided to change his mind and today announced via Twitter that he is coming out of retirement and has signed with Bellator. DeBlass now meets Carlos Brooks at Bellator 95, which takes place April 4 in DeBlass’ backyard of Atlantic City. The fight will be contested at 185 pounds, and DeBlass is expected to open as a favorite when the MMA Odds for the fight are eventually released. Also announced for the card was Munah Holland vs. Jessica Eye in a featured women’s bout. Le Says Silva’s Camp Mentioned His Name First, Would Take Fight if UFC Offers It Cung Le was a guest on today’s The MMA Hour on MMAFighting.com, and the veteran middleweight said he would accept an Anderson Silva matchup if the UFC wanted to book it. According to Le, it was Silva’s camp who first brought up his name as a potential opponent, but he said that it’s a fight that he’s open to taking. Le believes that the UFC has from himself, Chris Weidman, and Luke Rockhold to pick from to be Silva’s next opponent, but considering that Le is the biggest name of the bunch and considering that he’s nearing the end of his career, he might be the front runner to be Silva’s next victim. Ultimately, it will come down to whoever Silva’s camp thinks will make him the most money, and at this point in time that’s likely Le, even if he’s not deserving of a title shot. Bellator Featherweight Tournament Field Revealed The next Bellator featherweight tournament’s field has been fully revealed, and all eight fighters will compete at Bellator 88, which takes placeĀ Feb. 7 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. The four matchups are as follows: Marlon Sandro vs. Akop Stepanyan; Fabricio Guerreiro vs. Magomedrasul Khasbulaev; Alexandre “Popo” Bezerra vs. Genair da Silva; and Mike Richman vs. Mitch Jackson. The winner of the tournament will get a shot at the Bellator World Featherweight Title later in 2013, a belt that is currently being held by Pat Curran, the No. 4 ranked featherweight according to the currentĀ MMA Fighter Rankings.

Written by Adam Martin.

Leave a Reply

MMA Betting Recap: UFC on FOX 6 Closing Odds & Results

Bellator 87 Picks: Lightweight Quarterfinal Fight Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (-250) vs. Guillaume DeLorenzi (+190)