Bellator 123 Date: September 5, 2014 Arena: Mohegan Sun Casino City: Uncasville, CT Bellator Fighting Championships returns Friday night from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut for Bellator 123. The event will feature a four-fight main card that will be headlined by a five-round featherweight title bout between challenger Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and champion Pat Curran. Main card action will kick off at 8pm ET live on Spike TV. If interested in wagering on these proposition plays, or any other plays for this fight card, these lines will be available to you at Several Bookmakerss. My prop plays Bellator 123 are: Featherweight title bout: Pat Curran (+105) vs Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (-115) Freire by Decision (+205) 1u to win 2.05u I favor this rematch to hit the judges’ scorecards once again, and this time I think the Brazilian will get the nod and take the Bellator Featherweight title home to Brazil. Heavyweight bout: Cheick Kongo (-225) vs Lavar Johnson (+205) Kongo by Decision (+450) 1u to win 4.5u I favor this heavyweight scrap between two UFC veterans to not last very long, likely ending via T/KO within the first few minutes of action. That said, I do see value in the Kongo by Decision prop at +450, as I do think there is a chance that he plays it safe against Johnson, opting to be technical in the striking, and using a lot of clinch work against the cage and attempting to blanket “Big” on the mat. I could definitely see Kongo taking the Brendan Schaub approach against Johnson in this co-main event bout, as he does not want to risk getting touched with those very heavy hands of the Strikeforce veteran’s. Kongo will undoubtedly have the grappling advantage in this bout and that could be his key to victory in this fight. Bottom line, I like the Under 1.5 rounds in this fight, but I think this Is an excellent hedge, and a play I like almost as much as the ‘under’ itself. Heavyweight bout: Bobby Lashley (-705) vs Josh Burns (+570) Lashley Inside the Distance (-260) 1.3u to win .5u To put it simply, I am having trouble seeing this fight play out any other way. Considering the straight-up moneyline play on Lashley at the sportsbooks is -705, I think there is good value in him to finish the fight at -260, and think it is worth a small play. I just don’t see Burns lasting 15-minutes in the Bellator cage with him; I am expecting Lashley to finish this fight within the first round of action, and I think that is also what he expects of himself. Light Heavyweight bout: Dustin Jacoby (+420) vs Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (-475) Lawal by Decision (+120) 1u to win 1.2u Jacoby by Decision (+935) .2u to win 1.87 I would not be surprised to see a finish in this fight, but I am strongly favoring it to play out for all three rounds en route to a judges’ decision, where I favor “King Mo” to pick up the nod. Jacoby may be able to keep things competitive, as I think Lawal has been on a decline as of late, but I don’t think he will be able to do enough to defeat the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ. I think his superior wrestling will be the difference in this match-up, and at the current betting line of +120, I do believe there is value in that proposition play. For a hedge, I like Jacoby by Decision for a tiny stab at +935, in case a close decision he probably does not deserve goes his way.
