Bellator 217 Betting Preview & Predictions

Bellator 217: Gallagher vs Graham will take place across the Atlantic Ocean, Dublin, Ireland, at 3Arena. You can catch the broadcast on Paramount Network and DAZN in the United States as well as Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The main event is a bantamweight tilt between James Gallagher and Steven Graham, and the co-main event pits Peter Queally and Myles Price against each other in a lightweight fight. We have the full card for you as well as our MMA betting thoughts about the two central events and several other bouts as well.

Bellator 217 Betting Preview & Predictions

Main Card (Paramount Network / DAZN)

• James Gallagher vs Steven Graham (Bantamweight)
• Peter Queally vs Myles Price (Lightweight)
• Richie Smullen vs Adam Gustab (Featherweight)
• Charlie Ward vs Jamie Stephenson (Middleweight)

Preliminary Card (Bellator.com / Bellator Mobile App)

• Ian Cleary vs Mickey Doran (Bantamweight)
• Ryan Curtis vs Luis Gonzalez (Flyweight)
• Will Fleury vs Shaun Taylor (Middleweight)
• Kiefer Crosbie vs Daniel Olejniczak (Welterweight)
• Karl Moore vs Yannick Bahati (Light heavyweight)
• Dylan Logan vs Andrew Murphy (Featherweight)
• John Redmond vs George Tokkos (Middleweight)
• Leah McCourt vs Hatice Ozyurt (Women’s featherweight)
• Richard Kiely vs Mickael Bucher (Welterweight)
• Paul Redmond vs Charlie Leary (Lightweight)
• Samuel Slater vs Christopher Du ncan (Lightweight)
• Walter Gahadza vs Ruben Crawford (Welterweight)
• Iony Razafiarison vs Olga Ruben (Women’s featherweight)

James Gallagher vs Steven Graham

• Bellator 217 Odds: Gallagher -565 / Graham +415

This match gives a solid Irish bantamweight prospect in Gallagher, who took a first-round knockout from Ricky Bandejas in his last outing, but before that, Gallagher had won seven straight bouts to open his pro fighting career. Graham comes in on a five-bout winning streak, with four of those wins coming on the ground, via the rear-naked choke or the guillotine. Many experts view this as Gallagher’s fight to lose. He is the best prospect that Bellator has in Ireland, but even if he loses, he will still be on the list of fighters to watch. Even so, he should avoid the mistakes that he made last time — in that seven-bout winning streak, he had choked out six of his seven counterparts, beating Kirill Medvedovski and Chinzo Machida in the first round. He will start out looking to get ways to bring Graham to the ground and then move to the rear-naked choke. Really, the only risk is if he does not fight carefully enough to keep Graham from moving behind to get leverage for the guillotine. Bellator 217 Prediction: Gallagher wins via stoppage

Peter Queally vs Myles Price

• Bellator 217 Odds: Queally -390 / Price +305

The fight features a fighter on the rebound in Queally, who delivered a knockout win in the first round over David Khachatryan. Price comes in looking to end a skid that began in his last bout, when he lost to Norman Parke, formerly of the UFC, on the cards. Bellator 217 Prediction: Queally wins via decision

Olga Rubin vs Iony Razafiarison

This one matches one of the top fighters at 145 pounds in Rubin with a last-minute replacement in Razafiarison. Rubin has never been beaten and is looking to get into line for a women’s featherweight title challenge. She was originally slated to fight Sinead Kavanagh, who brings some European credibility to Bellator with that signing, but an injury forced Kavanagh to pull out. Razafiarison may be even better, as she has beaten Kavanaugh and has a 6-1 pro record. Even so, Rubin should roll to a win. Bellator 217 Prediction: Rubin wins via decision

Kiefer Crosbie vs Daniel Olejniczak

This fight has an intriguing prospect in Crosbie, who is 5-0, and should deliver a win. Shaun Taylor vs Will Fleury is an interesting fight as Taylor comes back for the first time in more than a year. He only has one career loss, against Leon Edwards — who has won six straight in the UFC, so that’s not a bad loss at all. Taylor has delivered finishes in seven of his eight career wins. Fleury will look to shut things down quickly, as three of his career wins have come by early stoppage, including his debut against John Redmond, who also appears on the preliminary card. I like Taylor to win this one. Bellator 217 Prediction: Taylor via decision