Bellator 261: Johnson vs. Moldavsky takes place on Friday, June 25 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the event, and MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a look at the opening odds below.
Bellator 261 Odds
Valentin Moldavsky -200
Tim Johnson +160
Liz Carmouche -185
Kana Watanabe +155
Daniel Weichel -150
Keoni Diggs +120
Sidney Outlaw -300
Myles Jury +240
John Teixeira -400
John de Jesus +300
Isaiah Hokit -500
Corey Samuels +375
Taylor Johnson -400
Lance Wright +300
Christian Edwards -200
Ben Parrish +160
Soren Bak -300
Bobby Lee +240
Jaylon Bates -300
Cody Matthews +240
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds For Bellator 261:
- The main event of Bellator 261 is an interim heavyweight title bout between Valentin Moldavsky and Tim Johnson. Moldavsky has won all five of his fights in Bellator and most recently defeated UFC veteran Roy Nelson by decision. As for Johnson, he is 3-2 overall in Bellator and has won his last three fights in a row, including an upset win over Cheick Kongo in his last outing and a knockout win over Matt Mitrione before that. Both Johnson and Moldavsky are solid heavyweights who are deserving of fighting for the interim belt with champion Ryan Bader busy right now. Moldavsky opened as the betting favorite in this fight, but given Johnson’s recent form, you can’t completely count him out of this particular fight.
- The co-main event features women’s flyweights Liz Carmouche and Kana Watanabe. Carmouche is 2-0 in Bellator with wins over Vanessa Porto and DeAnna Bennett and she has looked like a future title contender so far in the promotion. As for Watanabe, she is a perfect 10-0 in her MMA career and most recently pulled off an upset win over Alejandra Lara. The winner of this fight seems to be next in line to fight for gold at 125lbs, so this is a very important fight and one that Carmouche opened as the slight betting favorite to win.
