Bellator 97 took place tonight and the event featured a number of exciting matches, many of which were available to bet on. Overall, eight favorites won while only one underdog cashed. Here’s a betting recap for the card based on the closing results at Several Bookmakers: Bellator 97 Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Michael Chandler defended the Bellator Lightweight Title with a brutal KO early in round one. Chandler is definitely the best lightweight not currently signed to the UFC but he recently signed a long-term deal with Bellator and will stay there for the long haul, meaning we’ll never know how good he actually is. Chandler closed at -1150 (bet $1150 to win $100), while Rickels closed at +950 (bet $100 to win $950). In the co-main event of the evening, Ben Askren put on a dominating performance over Andrey Koreshkov to once again defend the Bellator Welterweight with a fourth-round TKO (punches) finish. Askren is one of the most underrated welterweights on the planet and his exceptional wrestling can give anyone in the world problems. Askren closed at -370, while Koreshkov was +330. In a light heavyweight bout, King Mo Lawal defeated Jacob Noe via third-round TKO (punches) to win the Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament and earn himself a crack at the title. Mo looked tremendous early on, using his takedowns to ground Noe, then he threw some vicious ground and pound that added up and finally made the referee step in and stop the match. Mo was -1000, while Noe was +800. In a heavyweight bout, Vitaly Minakov defeated Ryan Martinez via third-round TKO (punches) to win the Bellator Summer Series heavyweight Tournament. It was just a dominating onsalught of punches that forced the ref to stop the fight, and Minakov cashed out at -365 while Martinez was +328. In a featherweight bout, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire defeated Jared Downing via KO (punches) early in round two. Downing showed a strong chin as was able to survive a number of Pitbull’s power shots in the first, but in the second Freire hit Downing with a huge left-hook right-cross combo and plastered him on the canvass. Pitbull cashed out at -555, while Downing failed as a +470 dog. In a lightweight bout, Bubba Jenkins defeated Mike Barreras via second-round TKO (punches) after overcoming some early troubles from his opponent. But he showed his explosiveness and athleticism in the second with the brutal TKO stoppage. Jenkins was a -1900 favorite, while Barreras was +1450. In a bantamweight bout, Anthony Leone defeated Frank Baca via third-round submission (rear-naked) choke to advance to the finals of the bantamweight tournament. Leone cashed out at -210, while Baca was +190. In a lightweight bout, Will Brooks defeated Cris Leyva via third-round TKO (punches) to cash his ticket into the next Bellator lightweight tournament. Brooks was a -1125 favorite and Leyva was a +925 dog. Bellator 97 Underdogs That Won In a bantamweight bout, Rafael Silva defeated Rodrigo Lima via third-round submission (rear-naked choke) to advance to the finals of the bantamweight tournament. Silva was the only underdog on the entire card to cash, and he cashed out at a juicy +275 while Lima was -305.
