Bellator London takes place Saturday, June 22 at SSE Arena in London, England. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the main card, and here they are.
Bellator London Opening Odds
Gegard Mousasi -405
Rafael Lovato Jr. +285
Paul Daley -245
Erick Silva +175
James Gallagher -750
Jeremiah Labiano +450
And here are my initial thoughts on the Bellator London Opening Odds:
- The main event for the Bellator middleweight title between Mousasi and Lovato Jr. was previously scheduled to occur back in January, but Mousasi had to pull out with an injury. Lovator Jr. decided to be patient and wait for his title shot, meaning neither fighter has competed since last September, making any concerns about rust a wash. Mousasi is currently riding an eight-fight win streak that includes stoppage wins over the likes of Rory MacDonald, Chris Weidman, Thiago Santos, Vitor Belfort and Uriah Hall. He has racked up a tidy 3-0 record since joining Bellator in late 2017. As for Lovator Jr., he’s a perfect 9-0 in his career with eight wins by stoppage. His record is 5-0 so far in Bellator with stoppage wins over John Salter and Gerald Harris. Lovato Jr. is a great fighter but Mousasi is a big step up in competition from the guys he’s been fighting. If Lovato Jr. gets the fight to the ground he could catch Mousasi in a submission, but Mousasi isn’t easy to submit considering he’s only been tapped out out in his 50+ pro fights. I believe Mousasi is the more well-rounded and proven mixed martial artist and will win this fight, but the question is if it’s worth laying significant juice on him given Lovato Jr.’s potent ground game. It’s a favorite-or-pass situation, but perhaps there’s not enough value on Mousasi here.
- At welterweight, Daley takes on Silva in what should be an explosive fight between two men who like to knock their opponents out. That being said, I like Daley in this fight. At this point, Silva is an auto-fade. He’s just 2-5 in his last seven fights and looked really bad in his Bellator debut when he dropped a decision to Yaroslav Amosov. Daley is on a two-fight losing skid himself, but he did have a highly-competitive fight against Michael Page, and he’s not far removed from a brutal KO win over Lorenz Larkin. A few years ago I would have picked Silva here but not now. I like Daley to get his hand raised in this fight, and I think he knocks Silva out cold.
- In 140lbs catchweight action, we have a mismatch between Gallagher and Labiano. This is shaping up to be a classic Bellator squash match. Aside from a hiccup against Ricky Bandejas, Gallagher has been very impressive in his young MMA career and he bounced back nicely with a submission win over Steven Graham in his last fight. Labiano is coming off of a stoppage win himself over Justin Smitley, but overall there’s not much about his game that stands out. I’m don’t see much if any value here on Gallagher at such a ballooned price, but I don’t think I would touch the dog, either.
