Although this is one of the slowest MMA weeks in a very long time, don’t be mistaken, there is still plenty of fisticuffs to wager on for those with the urge. Bellator will kick things off on Friday night, and we released the opening odds for the original four-fight main card of Bellator 115 earlier this week. Unfortunately, two of those bouts were cancelled at the weigh-ins yesterday as Andrey Koreshkov had to pull out of his bout due to illness, and Jeremy Kimball missed weight for his bout with Dan Cramer. Replacing those two bouts will be a welterweight match between Herman Terrado and Justin Baesman, and a light heavyweight bout between Volkan Oezdemir and Kelly Anundson. On Saturday afternoon the MMA scene will shift over to Finland for Cage 26. After discovering a talented Finn in Tom Niinimaki, the UFC may have its eyes on some of the other fighters coming out of his homeland. Timo-Juhani Hirkivangas is the top-ranked bantamweight in Scandinavia right now, Juha-Pekka Vainikainen is one of the best at lightweight, and Mikael Silander is a former challenger for the Cage Warriors flyweight title, so this is a very stacked card for the region and bettors will probably be looking up tape on one or two of these fighters relatively shortly when they move to a bigger show. Today, MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas released the betting lines for the two new Bellator 115 main card bouts and seven lines on the Cage 26 card at Several Bookmakers. Keep scrolling for all the odds: ——————– BELLATOR 115 MAIN CARD (Spike TV, 9pm ET) Herman Terrado -215 Justin Baesman +165 Volkan Oezdemir -305 Kelly Anundson +225 ——————– ——————– CAGE 26 Timo-Juhani Hirvikangas -165 Tymoteusz Swiatek +125 Juha-Pekka Vainikainen -505 Nordin Asrih +335 Olli Jaakko Uitto -210 Johan Vanttinen +160 Makwan Amirkhani -505 Yohann Guerin +335 Teemu Packalen -600 Sebastien Fournier +400 Mikael Silander -600 Daniel Barez +400 Mikko Ahmala -305 Laurent Beranger +225 ——————– Brad’s Analysis: Of the 18 fighters listed above I was previously aware of just 4, which speaks to how weak the MMA schedule is this week. Based on some cursory research, I think Terrado is able to beat Baesman by being able to bully him in striking exchanges and against the cage. Oezdemir is a prospect that Bellator wants to do well, and considering this was originally made as a prelim bout that means he likely dispatches Anundson inside the first round. An under — even 1.5, if it pops up at plus money — could be worth a look here. When dealing with Finnish MMA, you can expect to see quite a few favorable matchups for the hometown fighters, and this card is no different. The only real threat to any of the Finnish fighters is Tymoteusz Swiatek, a Polish prospect whose lone loss came at the hands of Marcin Lasota (who made an impressive Cage Warriors debut last weekend). Aside from that bout, Finns should roll as evidenced by the -300 and higher lines in every fight featuring a foreign fighter. If some action comes in on the dogs (because these lines are a bit higher than they should be) there may be a parlay to throw together with a couple of the favorites, but other than that it’s a hard card to bet.
