The main event of Bellator 140 is a five-round welterweight title bout between champion Douglas Limas and challenger Andrey Koreshkov. According to the current betting lines available at Several Bookmakers, Lima is a -175 favorite (bet $175 to win $100) while Koreshkov is a +155 underdog (bet $100 to win $155). MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened up Lima at -170 and Koreshkov at +130, and more action has come in on the favorite Lima so far. I agree with the money coming in on Lima as I expect him to defend his title. Here’s why. Lima (26-5) is the Bellator welterweight champion. The 27-year-old Brazilian-American is 8-1 in Bellator with wins over the likes of Ben Saunders (x2), Rick Hawn, and Steve Carl with his lone loss in Bellator coming to Ben Askren. He won two Bellator welterweight tournaments to get title shots; the first time he lost to Askren for the belt, the second time he beat Hawn for it. Lima is an extremely well-rounded, dangerous mixed martial artist. His striking is very powerful and he has knockout power in all of his limbs. All told he has 12 knockout wins in his career, including his last seven victories coming via T/KO. His punches are heavy but it’s his kicks that are what really make him a special fighter on the feet. He also has a very underrated ground game and has 11 submission wins. Generally he has solid takedown defence as well, although Askren was able to take him down when they fought. He has a very good chin and his cardio is very solid as well. He is currently riding a five-fight win streak, but he has not fought in 15 months since his destructive win over Hawn as he’s been dealing with injuries. He says he’s healthy now, and if he is, he should be able to run shop in the Bellator welterweight division, and it all starts with a victory over Koreshkov this weekend. Koreshkov (17-1) is the No. 1 contender in the Bellator welterweight division. The 24-year-old Russian is 8-1 in Bellator including wins over Marius Zaromskis, Adam McDonough and Justin Baesman, with his lone loss coming to Askren. Like Lima, Koreshkov has won two Bellator welterweight tournaments to get title shots; the first time he was destroyed by Askren, and this is second title fight he’s getting. Koreshkov, like Lima, is a devastating striker. He has 10 wins by knockout and can knock opponents out with any of his limbs. His ground game is not proven, although he does have a few submission wins on his resume. His wrestling has only been tested once by Askren and it looked bad, but that was a few years ago and he’s surely improved it since then. Having said that, his cardio, chin and takedown defence were huge red flags in that fight. Since he fought Askren he’s fought four-straight fights and earned his title shot, although he is coming off of a year-long layoff due to injury. He has a chance to beat Lima if he can either knock him out or use his movement and outstrike on the feet for 25 minutes, but that’s easier said than done against a guy like Lima, and that’s why he’s the dog in this fight. This fight is almost assuredly going to stay on the feet and both men are very capable of hurting and damaging each other. Both guys are capable of knocking out anyone in the division and although both have solid chins, in a fight like this it’s very likely someone is going to get knocked out. The difference, I think, is going to be Lima’s low kicks. He kicks really damn hard and I think he’s going to land them on Koreshkov and they are going to slow the Russian down as the fight goes on. If the fight goes into the later rounds, it would not surprise me if Lima could finish Koreshkov with leg kicks. I would also not be surprised to see Lima try and take this fight to the floor, as I do give him the edge in wrestling and submissions in this fight. Obviously Lima is coming off of a major injury layoff, but so is Koreshkov, so I feel like that evens things out. Lima is a destroyer and while Koreshkov is a damn good welterweight, I really like Lima here and expect him to look very impressive as he looks to defend his title. At -175, I see some value in playing Lima in a parlay with some of the other big favorites on the Bellator card as most of the chalk on this card is very likely to cash.
