Bellator 206 Betting Preview

The latest edition of Bellator is set for Saturday night at SAP Center in San Jose, California. The preliminary card starts at 7:00pm Eastern time, and you can stream it on MMAJunkie. The main card starts three hours later and is available on DAZN, the new streaming partner for Bellator. The main event features Gegard Mousasi putting his middleweight belt on the line in a bout against Rory MacDonald, the welterweight champ. The co-feature pits Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva for their fourth bout — and the first in almost a decade. We have the main and preliminary cards for you, as well as some MMA betting thoughts about a few of the tilts for Bellator 206.

Bellator 206 Betting Preview

https://youtu.be/C16aCcSupu8?t=2

Main Card (10:00pm ET, DAZN)

• Gegard Mousasi vs Rory MacDonald (middleweight title bout)
• Quinton Jackson vs Wanderlei Silva
• Andrey Koreshkov vs Douglas Lima (welterweight tournament, first round)
• Leandro Higo vs Aaron Pico
• Kerl Melendez vs Dakota Zimmerman

Preliminary Card (7:00pm ET, MMAJunkie)

• Adam Piccolotti vs James Terry
• Gaston Bolanos vs Ysidro Gutierrez
• Jeremiah Labiano vs Justin Smitley
• Arlene Blencowe vs Amber Leibrock
• Joe Neal vs Josh San Diego
• Abraham Vaesau vs DeMarco Villalona
• Cass Bell vs Ty Costa
• Isaiah Batin-Gonzalez vs Khai Wu
• Ignacio Ortiz vs Jacob Ycaro
• Ricky Abdelaziz vs Laird Anderson
• Chuck Campbell vs Joseph Ramirez
• Anthony Figueroa vs Samuel Romero

Gegard Mousasi (44-6-2) vs Rory MacDonald (20-4)

papits a fighter on a seven-bout winning streak in Mousasi (five with UFC and two with Bellator), with five of those coming by TKO finishes, in Mousasi against the Bellator welterweight champ in MacDonald. Mousasi last fought against Rafael Carvalho, taking him down in the first round to take the belt. He’s 32 years old, but he seems to be improving in his game, despite the fact that he already has more than 50 fights on his odometer. MacDonald is looking for a new adventure while the Welterweight Grand Prix unfolds to find a new challenger for him at the top of his weight class. He lost to Robbie Lawler and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson before coming over to Bellator, so even though he’s taken some recent losses, they have come against elite competition. He is a tall welterweight (6’ with a 76-inch reach), so he has the size to contend against a middleweight fighter, but Mousasi is two inches taller. Mousasi has 24 knockouts in his 44 wins, and he has also picked up a dozen wins via submission, so his grappling game is solid as well. Bellator 206 Prediction: Mousasi wins via decision

Quinton Jackson (37-13) vs Wanderlei Silva (35-13-1, 1 NC)

They take their light heavyweight rivalry to the octagon again, in their fourth meeting in an association that dates all the way back to November 2003. Silva has won two of the three fights, but Jackson won the last one, back in 2008, when Jackson delivered a big knockout. Jackson still has the reputation for standing and fighting, but his last knockout came at Bellator 110 against Christian M’Pumbu, and M’Pumbu doesn’t have the same stature as Silva. Silva comes in at 5’11” with a 74-inch reach, while Jackson is two inches taller but has one less inch of reach. Both of these fighters are big strikers, so this will be a bout that goes toe to toe. Jackson does have a slight edge in that he has at least one fight per year for the last 19 years. Silva took four years off (some of which was a drug test-related suspension), from 2013 to 2017, and his return was not particularly impressive, as Chael Sonnen was able to get him to the ground easily. Bellator 206 Prediction: Jackson wins via TKO

Andrey Koreshkov (21-2) vs Douglas Lima (29-7)

This is the third meeting between a pair of welterweight rivals. Koreshkov took the world title from Lima in 2015, but then Lima took it back via knockout in 2016. Both men are the same height, but Koreshkov has 74 inches of reach to his opponent’s 71. Lima has finished in 24 of his wins, with 13 submissions and 11 knockouts. Koreshkov has submitted three opponents and knocked out a dozen. This will be close, but Lima could have more stamina, on the basis of recent fights. Bellator 206 Prediction: Lima wins via decision