Bellator 202 takes place Friday, July 13 at WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma. The offshore sportsbooks recently released the opening odds for the card, and here they are.
Bellator 202 Opening Odds
Julia Budd -400
Talita Nogueira +280
Michael McDonald -130
Eduardo Dantas -110
Chris Honeycutt -285
Leo Leite +205
Valentin Moldavsky -530
Ernest James +350
Yaroslav Amosov -265
Gerald Harris +185
Will Morris -750
Charles Williams +450
Emily Ducote -515
Veta Arteaga +345
Rudy Schaffroth -140
Jon Hill +100
Nation Gibrick -565
Luis Erives +375
Daniel Carey -320
Aaron Webb +240
And my initial thoughts on the odds are as follows:
– It’s rare that we get full odds for a Bellator card, so thank you to the oddsmakers for that. In the main event, Budd looks to defend the Bellator women’s featherweight title for a second time against Nogueira. Budd (11-2) is riding a nine-fight win streak and has a 5-0 record in Bellator with a notable TKO win over Marloes Coenen. Budd has not lost since a 2011 submission defeat to Ronda Rousey and her only other career loss is a KO defeat to Amanda Nunes. She is one of the best women’s featherweights on the planet and it’s a shame she isn’t in the UFC fighting Cris Cyborg. Nogueira (7-0) is undefeated as a pro and coming off a submission win over Amanda Bell in her Bellator debut. However, she really hasn’t fought anyone good in her career and has not been active. I think Budd dominates once again and defends her title with a stoppage victory in this one.
– The co-main event between McDonald and Dantas should be fun. McDonald (18-4) won his Bellator debut against Peter Ligier which he needed after flaming out of the UFC with a KO loss to Joh Lineker. Somehow he’s still only 27 despite having a ton of high-level experience and many big fights. Dantas (20-5) is coming off of a decision loss to Darrion Caldwell to lose the Bellator bantamweight title but had won four straight bouts before that. Overall he has an impressive 10-2 record in Bellator. I guess McDonald opened as the favorite because he’s the bigger name but I think Dantas is the better fighter and I like him to win here.
– Honeycutt (10-2, 1 NC) is coming off of a loss to Rafael Lovato Jr. but had won four straight bouts prior to that and is overall 6-2, 1 NC in Bellator. He might not be the title contender we once hoped but he’s still a good wrestler. Leite (10-1) lost a decison to Phil Davis and is dropping down to middleweight for this bout. I would consider going with Leite in this one as he’s the bigger fighter and honestly very underrated. I think as a dog there’s some value on him here.
– On the prelims, Yamosov makes his Bellator debut against Harris. Yamosov (19-0) is undefeated and has won 17 fights by stoppage. The guy looks like a beast and I’m interested to see how he looks in Bellator. Harris (25-6) lost his Bellator debut to Lovato Jr. and is dropping back down to welterweight for this bout. Harris has more high-level experience but he’s the older fighter and Yamosov is a really good prospect, so I don’t think I could take Harris here even as a dog.
