Bellator 219 takes place Friday, March 29 at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the main card, and here they are.
Bellator 219 Opening Odds
Saad Awad -265
Brandon Girtz +185
Daniel Straus -530
Shane Kruchten +350
Andrey Koreshkov -690
Michael Jasper +430
Marina Mokhnatkina -400
Janay Harding +280
Updated – New Fight Added:
Joe Schilling -550
Keith Berry +400
And here are my initial thoughts on the Bellator 219 Opening Odds:
- The main event between Awad and Girtz should be a fun lightweight matchup, though it’s pretty surprising Bellator booked this as a main event. As far as this matchup goes, it’s perhaps a bit surprising these two have never met in the Bellator cage yet considering how long each has fought for the promotion. Awad has been fighting in Bellator since 2013, going 11-6 overall in the promotion while fighting at both 155 and 170. He’s coming off of a decision loss to Benson Henderson, but had won four straight fights before that. Girtz has been in Bellator since 2012 and has gone 7-6 while fighting at both 155 and 170 as well. He’s coming off of a submission loss to Michael Chandler and has gone 1-4 in his last five bouts. I wouldn’t be surprised if Girtz won this fight as he’s been known to surprise from time to time, but everything points to Awad getting his hand raised, likely by decision.
- One of the best featherweights in Bellator is Straus, and he’ll return to the cage here for the first time since late 2017. Straus was one the Bellator featherweight champ and has an all-time record of 11-5 in the promotion, but he hasn’t actually won a fight since 2015 and appears to be on a sharp decline. However, Bellator is setting him up here with a very winnable fight against Krutchen, who was knocked out by Aaron Pico in his Bellator debut. Krutchen had a padded record fighting in Xplode Fight Series and this looks like a set-up fight designed to get Straus a win. But do you really want to lay massive juice on a guy coming off a long layoff? Probably not.
- If you’re going to put all your eggs in one basket with a big favorite, Koreshkov is a better bet. The former Bellator welterweight champion is 12-3 all-time in the promotion and has only lost to Douglas Lima and Ben Askren. He’s still one of the best welterweights in Bellator despite his one-sided loss to Lima in their trilogy bout his last time out. Jasper has a 13-4 record and is making his Bellator debut after three straight wins on the California regional scene. He’s fought some decent competition but doesn’t really have any notable wins. Koreshkov should win this fight by knockout.
- And finally, this women’s featherweight bout between Harding and Mokhnatkina could be interesting. Harding has less than 10 fights but has fought some big names including Megan Anderson and she’s 1-1 in Bellator. Mokhnatkina is 4-1 in MMA while fighting for FNG in Russia. She did lose her last fight by decision, and that fight was over a year ago, but she is a Sambo specialist and with her grappling pedigree I’m not surprised she’s such a big favorite here. Still, it might be a dog-or-pass situation because of how lopsided the odds are.
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