The opening main card bout at Bellator 133 is a three-round welterweight bout between Chris Honeycutt and Clayton MacFarlane. According to the current betting lines available at Several Bookmakers, Honeycutt is a -650 favorite (bet $650 to win $100) while MacFarlane is a +440 underdog (bet $100 to win $440). MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened up Honeycutt at -900 and MacFarlane at +500, and the line has surprisingly dropped on Honeycutt so far. I favor Honeycutt in this fight and I’m surprised the line dropped. Here’s why. Honeycutt (5-0) is one of the top prospects in the Bellator welterweight division. The 26-year-old American was a standout wrestler in college and he’s transitioned perfectly to MMA so far, going 5-0 with four of those wins coming by way of stoppage. In his Bellator debut against UFC veteran Aaron Wilkinson, Honeycutt showed off his wrestling chops, slamming his opponent to the ground with a vengeance before finally securing a TKO victory. Honeycutt still needs to work on his striking and BJJ, but with his exceptional wrestling and heavy ground and pound it will be hard for anyone outside of the elite welterweights in Bellator to beat him, and that’s why he enters this fight as a heavy favorite. MacFarlane (4-0) is also undefeated, but he comes from the Xxplode fight series where the level of competition is next to nothing. In fact, I would argue Xxplode is more of an amateur MMA organization rather than a pro MMA organization. Regardless, MacFarlane has looked good, but against lower-tiered opponents. There is not much information available on MacFarlane, but from what I can tell from the video I watched on him he is a wrestler. But he’s not as good of a wrestler of Honeycutt, so as long as he hasn’t drastically improved his takedown defence and striking, he is going to get slammed hard by Honeycutt in the matchup, and probably eventually get finished. I don’t really see this fight being close. Honeycutt is an extremely explosive wrestler and I think he’s going to have a great career in Bellator and I think MacFarlane is just the next guy in his path. I expect Honeycutt to really shine in this fight and probably get a stoppage victory. At -650, he should be a nice addition to your parlays this weekend.
