Bellator 67 Betting Preview

Bellator 67 Betting Preview: Chandler Battles Gono in Non-Title Lightweight Bout A lightweight non-title feature fight and a Season Six Welterweight Tournament Semifinal bout highlight Friday’s Bellator 67 card from the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada.  Lightweight champion Michael Chandler will face former UFC fighter Akihiro Gono in the headliner of the main card, which will be televised live on MTV2 starting at 8 p.m. (ET). Chandler opened as a monster -900 favorite (bet $900 to win $100) to beat Gono, the +600 underdog (bet $100 to win $600) according to the Bellator odds.  The unbeaten champion will look to improve to 10-0 in his first fight since submitting Eddie Alvarez via rear-naked choke in the fourth round at Bellator 58 for the title last November 19.  Chandler had won the Season Four Lightweight Tournament Final, registering a unanimous decision victory against Patricky Freire last May 14 to earn the title shot. While there will not be an opportunity to win the belt for Gono (32-17-7), he will still get a chance to end a two-fight skid and get back on track with his MMA career.  He remains one of only two men to beat former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, who just signed a new deal with the UFC.  However, that victory against Lombard happened nearly six years ago, and he is just 6-6 since then.  Gono was dismissed from the UFC following a loss to Jon Fitch that left his record there at 1-2 three years ago. Another bout on the main card that should generate some excitement is a semifinal matchup between Ben Saunders (13-4-2) and Bryan Baker (17-3) in the Season Six Welterweight Tournament.  Like Gono, Saunders (-185) has prior UFC experience and also lost to Fitch and Dennis Hallman before finding his way to Bellator.  Saunders previously competed in the Season Five Welterweight Tournament as well and lost in the final to Douglas Lima by second-round knockout. Baker (+155) moved down a weight class to welterweight after losing to Vitor Vianna via first-round TKO in the Season Five Middleweight Tournament Semifinals.  He actually made it all the way to the finals of that tourney in Season Two, losing to Alexander Shlemenko the same way, by first-round TKO.  The only other loss Baker has suffered in his pro MMA career came against UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen via unanimous decision at WEC 33 on March 26, 2008. The other two bouts on the main card include a welterweight feature fight between Ryan Ford (17-4) and Luis Santos (50-7-1) and a heavyweight showdown pitting Dave Huckaba (17-4) against Damian Grabowski (14-1).  Ford is a +165 underdog against Santos (-205) while Grabowski is a heavy -415 favorite against Huckaba (+315).

Written by Matty

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