The next installment of MMA in the Bellator promotion is set for Saturday, January 25, at The Forum, in Inglewood, California. The main event is a fight for the Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship, as Julia Budd will defend her title against Cris “Cyborg” Justino, a former champion in UFC, Invicta and Strikeforce. The co-headliner is a Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal bout between Darrion Caldwell and Adam Borics. You can catch the whole night’s fighting in DAZN. We have your full fight card as well as sports betting thoughts on several of the key fights.
Bellator 238 Odds, Betting Preview & Predictions
- When: Saturday, 10 PM ET
- Where: The Forum, Los Angeles
- Live Stream: DAZN
Main Card
- Julia Budd vs Cris “Cyborg” Justino (Bellator Women’s Featherweight Championship)
- Darrion Caldwell vs Adam Borics (Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinal)
- Sergio Pettis vs Alfred Khashakyan (Bantamweight)
- Raymond Daniels vs Jason King (Welterweight)
- Ava Knight vs Emilee King (Women’s Strawweight)
- Henry Corrales vs Juan Archuleta (Featherweight)
Preliminary Card
- Aaron Pico vs Daniel Carey (Featherweight)
- Jay Jay Wilson vs Mario Navarro (Featherweight)
- Anthony Taylor vs Chris Avila (Lightweight)
- David Pacheco vs Miguel Jacob (Welterweight)
- Brandon Bender vs Joshua Jones (Catchweight – 160 lbs)
- Ricardo Seixas vs Dominic Clark (Lightweight)
- Tony Bartovich vs Jarrett Connor (Featherweight)
- A.J. Agazarm vs Adel Altamimi (Featherweight)
- Curtis Millender vs Moses Murrietta (Catchweight – 180 lbs)
Julia Budd vs Cris “Cyborg” Justino
- Bellator 238 Odds: Budd +235 / Cyborg -435
This on gives us the top two fighters in MMA women at the featherweight division. Cyborg had gone for more than 13 years without a loss until UFC bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes ran over her. Budd has not lost in more than eight years and now prepares to defend her title against Cyborg in her Bellator debut. Cyborg bounced back from that loss to Nunes by defeating Felicia Spencer.
Budd lost two fights in 2011, one to Nunes and one to Ronda Rousey. Now, at the age of 36, she has defended her title three times after stopping Marloes Coenen to take the belt. Her most impressive wins have included finishes of Olga Rubin and Talita Nogueira, along with decision wins over Charmaine Tweet, Gabrielle Holloway, Roberta Paim Samad and Arlene Blencowe.
However, none of those opponents is as solid as Cyborg, who picked up her wins against some common opponents but others who bring more talent to the cage. Cyborg loves to come forward and bring pressure, using her striking game to overwhelm the opposition. Budd likes to take her opponents down to the mat and then use ground-and-pound to deliver punishment, either leading to stoppages or decision wins. Budd will have an extremely difficult time getting Cyborg to the ground; it is much more likely that Cyborg will bring a bomb that Budd cannot withstand.
Final Prediction: Cyborg wins via knockout
Darrion Caldwell vs Adam Borics
- Bellator 238 Odds: Caldwell -120 / Borics +100
They bring an exciting quarterfinal bout in the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix. Caldwell was a national Division I wrestling champ in college, and Bellator recruited him along with a group of other wrestlers from college who did not yet have MMA experience. Caldwell won the bantamweight belt by defeating Eduardo Dantas, and then he defended the title twice. However, he then tried to take Kyoji Horiguichi’s bantamweight belt in Rizin; he lost, and then he lost in the rematch, dropping his Bellator belt as well. Caldwell did beat Henry Corrales in September, but there are still questions surrounding whether he can still fight at an elite level in Bellator.
Borics will be a tough opponent for him, as he is undefeated and has had no difficulty in Bellator, delivering finishes of Teodor Nikolov and Aaron Pico with flying knees and bringing several submissions with his grappling game. Caldwell likes to bring pressure, but if he isn’t careful, he will end up on the wrong end of a knee or end up tapping out. Caldwell has a lot of talent, but Borics has the momentum right now — and the stronger game.
Final Prediction: Borics wins via decision
