Bellator 109 Date: November 22, 2013 Arena: Sands Bethlehem Event Center City: Bethlehem, P.A. Lightweight tournament finals: Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy (-200) vs “Ill” Will Brooks (+170) Fight Breakdown: The co-main event for Bellator 109 on Spike TV will be the Bellator lightweight finals, and the winner will advance for a shot at the 155 title. It will be a fight to remember, when Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy steps inside the Bellator cage to take on “Ill” Will Brooks. “Tiger” is the favorite in this match-up at -200 ($200 to win $100), while Brooks is the underdog at +170 ($100 to win $170) at Several Bookmakerss. ALEXANDER “TIGER” SARNAVSKIY (25-1 MMA, 5-1 Bellator) is riding a five fight win streak, which includes four finishes; three of them coming in the very first round. He finished Marcus Davis and Ricardo Tirloni both in the first round in order to advance to the Bellator lightweight tournament finals. Sarnavskiy is an incredibly well-rounded mixed martial artist who is a huge threat both on the feet and on the mat. When striking, he likes to put all of his limbs to use. He does serious damage using his elbows and knees. He is very dangerous with ground and pound on the canvas, and is even more dangerous with his submissions, as 15 of his 25 professional mixed martial arts career victories have come by way of tapout. The 24-year old Russian is well-conditioned, and always game for a 15 minute war. He has a solid chin, and an incredible amount of heart. Even if he gets put in the worst positions, he will not wilt and quit. He will fight on and look for the finish until the very end, and that is the type of fighter you generally want to back. “Ill” WILL BROOKS (12-1 MMA, 4-1 Bellator) is coming off an impressive, dominant unanimous decision victory over Saad Awaad, where he avenged the only loss on his professional mixed martial arts career resume. Now, with a pair of quite dominant decision nods behind him, he advances to the Bellator lightweight tournament finals, and awaits the biggest challenge of his fighting career. Brooks has never faced anybody as dangerous as Sarnavskiy. However, “Tiger” has never faced a wrestler as skilled as Brooks. Brooks is very talented and dominant on the mat. He works great takedowns, and once he has his opponents down, it is hard for them to do anything but stay down and get beat up. He has some of the best control in the lightweight division. While Sarnavskiy is the more talented submission artist, Brooks is the more talented general grappler, as his wrestling and submission defense is good enough to cancel the Russian out on the mat, and win the fight there. A former high school football star whose football career was cut short due to a knee injury, Brooks is a very explosive athlete. He is a wrestler first, but has fallen in love with the art of striking; one of the rare fighters who can dominate you on the mat with their wrestling, or knock you out with a headkick. Training out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, F.L., Brooks is well-conditioned, and will be able to go the be fully prepared to go all three rounds against the Russian. Fight Prediction: To put it simply, I feel Brooks is going to use his wrestling to win a decision here. That said, I don’t think it is going to be a boring 15 minute fight. Sarnavskiy will be a threat the entire time and could catch Brooks at any moment with a submission or a well-timed strike. I expect some fun back-and-forth action on the feet, but Brooks’ takedowns and ground control will win him the fight more often than not. Gabe’s Pick: Will Brooks by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Over 2.5 rounds (-160) Risk 6.4u to win 4u, and Will Brooks (+170) Risk 2.5u to win 4.25u.
