Bellator 115 Date: April 4, 2014 Arena: Reno Events Center City: Reno, NV Middleweight bout: Johnny “Tattooed Terror” Cisneros (+325) vs Mikkel Parlo (-565) Fight Breakdown: The main card for Bellator 115 will be featuring a middleweight contest between King of the Cage veteran Johnny “Tattooed Terror” Cisneros and five-fight Bellator vet Mikkel Parlo. Cisneros is a big underdog in this scrap at +325 ($100 to win $325), with Parlo being a significant favorite at -565 ($565 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. Johnny “Tattooed Terror” Cisneros (8-2 MMA, 0-0 Bellator) will be making his promotional debut, coming off a unanimous decision victory over Melvin Costa in the King of the Cage promotion five months ago. The Californian will be fighting in the first televised event of his career, and it’ll be against his stiffest test as well. Rightfully so, he is a big underdog against the Dane. However, he should not be counted out, as he is a well-rounded mixed martial artist with solid striking skills; having fast hands and being quick on his feet. He possesses a lot of power, and is capable of putting just about anyone away, if he could manage to properly connect. He tends to be more wild than technically accurate, so he does not often find the finish. That said, Cisneros does indeed own an impressive five of eight professional mixed martial arts career victories by way of T/KO. The “Tattooed Terror” has decent grappling skills, and puts a lot of power behind his takedowns, often finding success with them, especially his double-leg takedowns. He is also dominant on the mat, working a vicious ground and pound attack, whenever finding himself in top position. Cisneros has decent conditioning as well, but on a negative note, he does have a very suspect chin, having been on the receiving end of a flash KO by a journeyman with a .500 record. Parlo is an accurate striker, so I think Cisneros’ chin will be his main concern heading into this match-up. That said, he has a lot of heart, so as long as he does not get knocked out cold, I think he will hang in there and fight until the very end. This fight means a lot for Cisneros, and I don’t think he should be considered as an easy out. Mikkel Parlo (11-2 MMA, 3-2 Bellator) is coming off a second round TKO loss against Brennan Ward at Bellator 107 five months ago. That was the first T/KO defeat of Parlo’s professional mixed martial arts career, and I personally think it was an early stoppage by the referee. Ward had Parlo in hurt, but Parlo was not badly hurt at any point to warrant a stoppage. He was still in the fight, and I believe if the referee did not intervene, Ward would have gassed himself out, and Parlo may have gone on to secure a victory. Despite now having that TKO defeat on his professional record, I think Parlo still has a solid chin. In fact, his chin makes him more comfortable to stand and trade with his opponents, thinking he can’t be knocked out. The Dane goes into fights feeling the only way to lose is to get submitted. His grappling skills are not bad, he just feels a talented submission artist could tap him, and that’s likely his only way to lose a fight. His last bout clearly showed that may not be completely true, so while he generally has good defense on the feet, I assumed he has put more time into working on his striking defense in the course of the past five months. The 23-year old throws heavy leather, and picks good shots, putting together some effective combinations. He is a skilled technical striker who is accurate with his shots and prefers to keep his fights standing, which his solid takedown defense often allows him to do. Parlo is a respectable finisher and knockout artist in his own right, as eight of his eleven career victories have come inside the distance, and all eight have come via TKO/KO. That said, his most recent wins have been by decision, so I think he may be looking to score an impressive finish in his effort to bounce back to the win column. Training out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, NV, the Dane has displayed good conditioning, and I expect that he will be prepared to go a full 15 minutes against Cisneros, should the fight go the distance. Gabe’s Prediction: This fight is a bit tricky. I think Parlo should win more often than not, either by knockout or decision. However, I could see Cisneros catching Parlo, or even edging out a close decision. I could see this fight ending early, but more often than not, I think it goes over 1.5 rounds and possibly all the way to the distance, so I am liking that prop. Both middleweights are tough, and should be able to survive any onslaught, as long as nothing connects flush early. Gabe’s Call: Mikkel Parlo by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Over 1.5 rounds (-140) 1.4u to win 1u – I am opting to take the total on this fight, rather than going with either fighter. I see enough of value in Cisneros to warrant a small stab, but I am deciding against it and just sticking with the over.
