It is now Wednesday morning. Right up until the MMA world went into meltdown last night, when reports surfaced that Jose Aldo may have fractured his ribs, people were still talking about this past weekend’s Bellator 138 card. That level of attention was mirrored by the viewing figures, which confirm that this was the most viewed Bellator event to date, by some margin too. A great success.
Friday night’s offering, headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Cheick Kongo and Alexander Volkov might seem underwhelming in comparison, but it has significant points of note. Not only does the card appear relatively competitive on paper, it will be interesting to see whether there is any response from Bellator to the illogical and poorly constructed arguments from MMA’s doom-mongering conspiracy theorists who believe the fight between Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice was fixed.
As always the Last Word on Sports MMA crew have had their say on who they expect to see getting their hands raised in each of the main card fights at Bellator 139 on Friday night.
Cheick Kongo vs Alexander Volkov
Picking Kongo: Daniel Marino, Matt Creed, Carl Johnson, Stephen Rivers, Joey Garner, Travis Mounphosay
Picking Volkov: Trent Dozier
Rivers: “Bellator’s heavyweight division isn’t just lacking talent, it’s lacking fights. Title holder Vitaly Minakov has not fought since April of last year, which coincidentally was a decision win over Cheick Kongo. Minakov’s forced a three-minute stoppage of Alexander Volkov prior to that. Both Volkov and Kongo were also outwrestled in their last outings inside the Bellator cage, against Tony Johnson and Muhammed Lawal respectively. In theory Volkov should still be an improving prospect facing a 40-year-old veteran, but he just doesn’t show any real signs of improvement. If Kongo goes the smart route, he should be able to work Volkov over from the clinch against the fence, and possibly even put him on his back where his ground and pound remains devastating. This one could get pretty ugly, but I expect Kongo to come out on top.”
David Rickels vs John Alessio
Picking Rickels: Trent Dozier, Carl Johnson, Stephen Rivers, Joey Garner, Travis Mounphosay
Picking Alessio: Daniel Marino, Matt Creed
Dozier: “To beat David Rickels, you must be a heavy puncher, because the only way you’re stopping him is by putting him to sleep. John Alessio does not posses that kind of power in his hands. Rickels is not only younger than Alessio, but he has way less wear and tear on his body than Alessio as well. In fact, Alessio was a pro fighter for more than a decade before Rickels even had his first professional fight. Rickels will also be bigger than Alessio, and he’ll be able to do everything Alessio does, just better. Rickels by decision is the safe bet, but a late submission by ‘The Caveman’ wouldn’t surprise me here.”
Pat Curran vs Emmanuel Sanchez
Picking Curran: Daniel Marino, Trent Dozier, Matt Creed, Stephen Rivers, Joey Garner, Travis Mounphosay
Picking Sanchez: Carl Johnson
Rivers: “Curran comes into the fight on the first two-fight losing streak of his career. While there is no shame in losing to outstanding featherweights Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Daniel Weichel, a third successive defeat would signal an alarming slide for one of Bellator’s standout homegrown stars. I don’t expect that to happen here. Emmanuel Sanchez has fought nowhere near the level of competition Curran has. All Curran’s defeats inside the Bellator cage — Eddie Alvarez, Daniel Straus, Patricio Freire, Daniel Weichel — have been in competitive fights against the best Bellator has to offer. Sanchez did enough last time out against Alejandro Villalobos to get the win, but there was little to suggest he is on Curran’s level at this point.”
Joe Schilling vs Hisaki Kato
Picking Schilling: Daniel Marino, Trent Dozier, Matt Creed, Carl Johnson, Stephen Rivers, Joey Garner, Travis Mounphosay
Picking Kato: None
Rivers: “Hisaki Kato has never fought outside of the HEAT organization in Japan, has only once gone into the second round, and was finished last time out by Henrique Shigemoto. Sporting a 4-1 record, this appears on paper to be a fight made for Joe Schilling to get the win, and earn himself another highlight reel finish to add to that of Melvin Manhoef in his Bellator debut. This is a step down in competition for Schilling — who last fought, and lost, to Rafael Carvalho in April — for a reason and I’d expect to see him stop this one early.”
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