The MMA world has seen an influx of Russian talent over the past couple of years. Bellator has primarily led the charge when it comes to Russian talent, but the UFC has also brought some over. Now, Cage Warriors is getting in on the act in a big way as their next event will actually take place in Chechnya and feature the biggest crop of Russian talent assembled by a non-Russian promotion. There are some names that will be familiar to Cage Warriors fans, like James Brum, Ivan Buchinger and Matt Inman, but Saturday afternoon will be a period of discovery for plenty of European talent that hasn’t been seen by the general MMA world before. Today, MMA Oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened the betting lines for Cage Warriors 58 at Several Bookmakers. Check them out: ——————– Beslan Isaev -380 Viktor Halmi +260 Ion Cutelaba -260 Michal Andryszak +180 James Brum -245 Ruslan Abiltarov +175 Bakhtiyar Abbasov -215 Charles Andrade +165 Ivan Buchinger -270 Jamal Magomedov +190 Pavel Kusch -195 Chris Scott +155 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: This card is primarily going to be a learning experience for me and for most bettors. There are very few fights on this card where I have a comfortable level of familiarity with both fighters, but the bout between Pavel Kusch and Chris Scott is an exception. I have seen both compete multiple times in Cage Warriors, and I do believe that Kusch has the edge because of his more unorthodox grappling. Scott tends to end up on his back quite often in fights, and when facing skilled grapplers he can struggle to slap on the triangles and armbars that he’s been effective with thus far in his career. Kusch isn’t a lock by any means, he’s never been to a decision — win or lose — in his MMA career, and that’s always a bit worrisome, but I think his grappling carries him to victory here. On a card that really is all about discovering fighters who can succeed at a higher level, it may be better to just pass altogether rather than forcing action, especially with all the MMA happening over the next few days.
