Bellator 200 takes place Friday, May 25 at The SSE Arena, Wembley in London, England. The offshore sportsbooks recently announced the odds for the card and here they are:
Bellator 200 Opening Odds
Gegard Mousasi -190
Raphael Carvalho +150
Michael Page -380
David Rickels +260
Phil Davis -300
Linton Vassell +220
Aaron Chalmers -350
Ash Griffiths +250
Anastasia Yankova -350
Kate Jackson +250
And here are my thoughts on the Bellator 200 opening odds.
– I like Mousasi (43-6-2) in this main event bout for the Bellator middleweight title against the champ Carvalho (15-1). I agree that Carvalho is an underrated middleweight to casual fans, but I still view Mousasi as an elite middleweight. I think the eye injury he suffered against Alexander Shlemenko really affected his performance in that bout and I am fully expecting him to bounce back with a world-class performance here. As good as Carvalho has looked at times, going from fighting guys like Melvin Manhoef and Alessio Sakara to a guy like Mousasi is a huge step up, and it’s easy to forget Mousasi knocked out Chris Weidman just two fights ago. Considering this is a five-round fight, I like Mousasi to win the fight via stoppage.
– I also like Page (12-0) to take out Rickels (19-4) and keep his undefeated record intact in the process. Page has generally looked excellent in Bellator and even though he hasn’t fought in over a year since an ugly split decision win over Fernando Gonzalez, I think he lives up to his potential and comes in there and beats up Rickels like he should. Rickels has won three of his last four fights but we can’t forget all the knockout losses he suffered earlier in his Bellator run to superior strikers, and I think he gets knocked out yet again in this one.
– I have to lean towards Davis (18-4) over Vassell (19-6) just because we’ve seen Vassell lose to superior wrestlers in the past and the blueprint is there to beat him. There’s no doubt Vassell is the superior striker in this fight but that won’t matter if Davis keeps taking him down, which I think he will do. I’ll go with Davis to win a decision here.
– Although Chalmers (3-0) is a guy Bellator wants to push due to his celebrity, I still wouldn’t be surprised to see Griffiths (4-6) beat him. Griffiths has lost four-straight fights by stoppage and Bellator of course hopes he loses this fight, but Chalmers has never fought anyone good and I feel like his line is too high. I’m not rushing to the window to play Griffiths, but I’d stay away from Chalmers in this one.
– A card full of chalk should see another favorite win when Yankova (5-0) fights Jackson (9-3-1). For all the controversy due to her antics outside of the cage, Yankova has been very solid in the Bellator cage. Jackson has more experience and has fought some really good fighters in her career but she usually loses when she steps up in competition. The line is probably a bit too high for Yankova, but she should still be able to find a way to win this fight.
