A number of Bellator‘s season nine (and summer series) tournaments have their final matches set, and today I’m going to give an early-bird preview on all of the ones set for the rest of season nine, minus those scheduled for the Bellator 106 PPV event. Joe Warren vs. Travis Marx — season nine bantamweight final The first final we’ll take a look at is Joe Warren against Travis Marx, which is the bantamweight tournament final. An excellent fight pitting two of Bellator’s best bantamweight fighters, I expect this to be a war and I’m having a hard time deciding who I like him. With his name, Warren is going to be the favorite, but you cannot sleep on Marx in this spot because he has the power to put Warren’s lights out. My initial thoughts are that Warren should open at about -250 or so, but it’s a very tricky line to set. Mikkel Parlo vs. Brennan Ward — season nine middleweight final The finals of the middleweight tournament will pit Mikkel Parlo vs. Brennan Ward for a title shot against Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. This is actually a really intriguing fight and a really tough one to call, because both guys have been so impressive during their run to a title shot. Look for Parlo to open around 2-to-1 or slightly lower against Brennan, who has been the underdog in both his fights so far. Cheick Kongo vs. Vinicius Spartan — season nine heavyweight final In the heavyweight tournament finale, two UFC vets will meet with a title shot on the line as Cheick Kongo takes on Vinicius Spartan. Obviously Kongo is going to be the favorite in this one after his shellacking of Mark Godbeer, but Vinicius Spartan impressed everyone with his shocking one-punch KO of Lavar Johnson. Still, look for Kongo to open up at about 4-to-1 in this fight, although I personally don’t trust his chin still and may bet against him here if Spartan is available at big plus money. Eduardo Dantas vs. Rafael Silva — Bellator bantamweight championship fight And finally, a bit of a bonus fight here, but Rafael Silva defeated Anthony Leone at Bellator 102 to earn a title shot against Bellator bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas, so I’ll give my quick thoughts on that fight here. Silva is pretty well-rounded but I really don’t think he’s going to be much of a threat to Dantas, who should be able to knock him out sometime over the course of five rounds. The fight is being targeted for Bellator 107 and if I had to guess I would say Dantas opens around 3-to-1, or possibly even higher seeing as though the public didn’t back Silva against Leone.
