Bellator 245 takes place on Friday, September 11 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the full card and here they are.
Opening Odds For Bellator 245
Phil Davis -240
Lyoto Machida +200
Cat Zingano -170
Gabrielle Holloway +140
Ed Ruth -150
Taylor Johnson +120
Raymond Daniels -115
Peter Stanonik -115
Rafael Carvalho -175
Alex Polizzi +145
Tyrell Fortune -400
Jack May +300
Leslie Smith -450
Amanda Bell +350
Keith Lee -190
Vinicius Zani +160
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds For Bellator 245:
- The main event is a three-round rematch between Davis and Machida. They previously met at UFC 163 in August 2013, with Davis winning a controversial unanimous decision. Both men have had their ups and downs in the seven years since then but for the most part, both fighters are still operating at a high level. Davis has won two straight fights and four of his last five. At age 35, the former Bellator light heavyweight champion is not the young prospect he once was in the UFC, but he remains a formidable veteran presence. The same goes for Machida. Prior to a split decision loss to Gegard Mousasi, the former UFC light heavyweight champion had won four straight fights. But he’s now 40 and you have to wonder when Father Time will catch up. Davis opened as a moderate favorite here but given the style clash, expect a close fight.
- In the co-main event, Zingano makes her Bellator debut when she takes on Holloway in a women’s featherweight bout. Zingano has not fought since a TKO loss to Megan Anderson in December 2018 and has lost four of her last five fights overall. As for Holloway, she is coming off of a TKO win over Alexis Dufresne but it was way back in March 2017. Both women have had big layoffs, but Zingano is the name fighter so she was given favorite status. Zingano, who holds a notable win against Amanda Nunes, is able to regain her past form she should dominate the fight. But given all the unknowns, you can’t discount the possibility of an upset.
- At welterweight, we have a really good matchup between Ruth and Johnson. Ruth is one of the better 170lbers in Bellator with an 8-2 record in the promotion and is still only 29. Johnson, meanwhile, is 5-1 and is coming off of his first career loss, a submission defeat to top UFC middleweight prospect Andre Muniz on the Contender Series. Prior to that, he had won all five of his fights by TKO. Although Johnson is certainly a wild card here given his KO power, I still have to side with Ruth given all of the experience and success he’s had in Bellator.
- I was surprised to see welterweights Daniels and Stanonik open as Pick ’em. Yes, Daniel is inexperienced in MMA with just a 2-1 record, but since moving from kickboxing to MMA later in his career he has looked really good. Daniel has both of his fights in Bellator by knockout, more than making up for his lone MMA lone in Strikeforce back in 2008. Despite his age, he still looks to be in solid form. His opponent. Stanonik is also a kickboxer but he is just 5-4 in MMA. Daniels has been bet up since the opener and given his pedigree I have to agree.
- Overall, it’s a deep Bellator card with lots of former UFC fighters and plenty of fights to bet on.
