Bellator 79 Bantamweight Title Fight Bellator Bantamweight Champion Eduardo Dantas (-240) Profile: Eduardo Dantas (14-3) is the reigning Bellator bantamweight champion and looked rather dominant throughout the Bellator Season Five Bantamweight Tournament with a devastating flying knee KO victory against the always tough Wilson Reis and a unanimous decision win over Olympian medalist Alexis Vila before pulling off an incredible arm-triangle choke on Zach Makovsky for the title. Unfortunately, the 23-year-old Brazilian took a fight against Tyson Nam in the longtime promotion of Shooto Brazil, and he was subsequently brutally knocked out in the first round of their fight. Dantas still holds the Bellator belt, although he may not be fighting outside of the promotion again any time soon and will have to defend it in an upcoming championship bout against fellow Brazilian Marcos Galvao. Bellator Bantamweight Challenger Marcos Galvao (+180) Profile: Marcos Galvao (13-5), the Bellator Season Six Bantamweight Tournament winner, has been impressive in 2012 to say the least. Bellator has a murderers row of featherweights and bantamweights, and Galvao has faced a majority of them. At featherweight, the 30-year-old Brazilian defeated Chase Beebe and dropped split-decision losses to both former champ Joe Warren and former Olympic wrestler Vila. In 2011, Galvao permanently made the move to bantamweight and has looked the better for it. He cleared the table in the Bellator Season Six Bantamweight Tournament and appears ready to challenge for the title belt. Opening Bellator 79 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has made Dantas a solid -240 favorite (bet $240 to win $100) against Galvao, who opened as a +180 underdog (bet $100 to win $180) according to the MMA odds. Dantas may have made a mistake by stepping outside Bellator to fight Nam, who ended his career-high seven-bout winning streak with a stunning upset. But “Dudu” is much younger than Galvao and still owns a signature victory against former Bellator bantamweight champ Makovsky following his run to the Season Five Tournament title. Galvao will be trying to repeat the feat of his friend and training partner Dantas less than year later, but the difference is that he will be an underdog while his opponent was a slight favorite when he fought for the championship. The fact that 11 of Galvao’s 13 wins have come via decision does not help his cause either, as Dantas is a much more dangerous fighter who has seen a majority of his victories (eight) end with a knockout or submission.
