Bellator 102 went down tonight in Visalia, California, and the card ended up being a pretty exciting event with a number of surprising finishes. Overall, three favorites came through while two dogs cashed. Here’s a betting recap for Bellator 102 based on the closing results at Several Bookmakers: Bellator 101 Favorites That Won In the main event of the evening, Cheick Kongo used his strong clinch game to wear Mark Godbeer down against the fence before unleashing a wicked series of knee strikes in the second round to knock his tired opponent down and earn a TKO win in his Bellator debut. Although the first round was frustrating to watch, Kongo definitely gained confidence in the second and impressed everyone with a surprise knockout win. Kongo, who advances to the finals of the Bellator season nine heavyweight tournament, closed at -525 (bet $525 to win $100), while Godbeer closed as a +450 dog (bet $100 to win $450). In a bantamweight bout, Rafael Silva defeated Anthony Leone via unanimous decision to win the Bellator summer series bantamweight tourney and earn a title shot against champion Eduardo Dantas later this year. This wasn’t a great victory for Silva by any means, but in a tournament format a win is a win and he got himself a title shot. Only a small favorite, Silva closed at -155, while Leone closed at +145. In a middleweight bout, Mikkel Parlo beat the snot out of Jason Butcher for three rounds, capturing a unanimous decision victory on the judges’ cards. Parlo closed at -280, while Butcher was +255 in what may wind up being his only appearance in the Bellator cage as he kept flopping to his back for 15 minutes to the boos of the live audience. Bellator 102 Underdogs That Won In a heavyweight semifinal bout, Vinicius Spartan shockingly knocked out Lavar Johnson with one punch just 22 seconds in the fight. It was a shocking KO as it was the first time Johnson had been finished by punches in his career. Spartan moves on to the finals of the heavyweight tourney to fight Kongo, while Johnson may get a shot in the next tournament. Spartan closed as a +190 dog, while Johnson was a -210 fav. In a middleweight bout, Brennan Ward submitted Joe Pacheco in the second round with an awesome power guillotine choke. I’m not sure why Ward was the underdog here, but he was and he closed out at +100 while Pacheco was a -110 fav. He now moves on to fight Parlo in the tournament finals.
