Bellator 229 Opening Odds Reactions

Bellator 229 takes place Friday, October 4 at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the main card, and here they are.

Bellator 229 Opening Odds

Andrey Koreshkov -185
Lorenz Larkin +145

Goiti Yamauchi -515
Saad Awad +390

Tony Johnson -130
Joe Schilling -110

Keri Melendez -300
Mandy Polk +220

Salim Mukhidinov -130
Adel Altamimi -110

Derek Anderson -305
Guilherme Bomba +225

And here are my initial thoughts on the Bellator 229 Opening Odds:

• The main event is a very fun welterweight bout between a pair of strikers in Koreshkov and Larkin. Koreshkov is the former Bellator welterweight champion and he holds a tremendous 13-3 record in Bellator with his only losses coming against Douglas Lima (twice) and Ben Askren. He even holds a win over Lima himself. Though Koreshkov was bounced from the Bellator welterweight grand prix after losing to Lima in their trilogy, he bounced back with a win in his last fight. Larkin, meanwhile, was a huge free-agent signing by Bellator after leaving the UFC, but he’s struggled with just a 2-2 record under the Bellator banner. To be fair to Larkin, his two losses have come against Paul Daley and Douglas Lima, but his only wins were over Fernando Gonzalez and Ion Pascu. Larkin could certainly surprise here, but you have to favor Koreshkov based on all of his success in Bellator.
• The co-main event is a solid lightweight bout between Yamauchi and Awad, two long-time veterans of Bellator. Yamauchi has a 9-3 record in Bellator while Awad is 11-8. Although Awad is dangerous at times with his striking, and he even has a KO win over Will Brooks from back in the day, Yamauchi is the more well-rounded fighter, not to mention the younger fighter by a full 10 years. It’s not surprising to see Yamauchi open as a big favorite.
• I’m very intrigued by the middleweight bout between Johnson and Schilling. Johnson won his last fight on Dana White’s Contender Series but the UFC chose not to sign him. He’s a long-time veteran of the sport and a former Strikeforce fighter, making the Scott Coker-led Bellator the perfect landing spot for him. He hasn’t lost a fight since 2011, although to be fair he’s only fought four times in that span. As for Schilling, we all know how technical he is with his striking, and he’s been training with Donald Cerrone to round out his game. But he has a losing record in MMA, though he is 3-2 in Bellator. You can’t count out Schilling, but Johnson is the more proven mixed martial artist and deserved to open as a small favorite here.
• And finally we have a women’s strawweight bout as Gilbert Melendez’s wife Keri takes on Mandy Polk. This looks like a set-up fight for Melendez to get the win. She’s a perfect 3-0 in Bellator and obviously comes from a great pedigree training at Skrap Pack. As for Polk, she’s coming off of three straight wins and actually has more MMA experience than Melendez. But with the Melendez last name, you knew she would be the favorite here.