Brandon "The Bull" Halsey wants his belt back. The undefeated 29-year-old and former Bellator middleweight champion was stripped of his title when he failed to make weight for his title defense against Kendall Groves at Bellator 137 in May.
Halsey beat Groves via TKO, but it was an empty victory.
On Friday night in the main event of Bellator 144 from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, Halsey will fight to regain his title.
When: Friday, October 23 at 7 p.m. (ET) for prelims and 9 p.m. (ET) for main card
Where: Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut
TV: Spike TV
Live Stream: Spike.com for prelims only
He'll face tough Brazilian Rafael Carvalho. Originally, the rematch between Eduardo Dantas and Marcos Galvao was the headline bout, but when the former was injured, the bout was cancelled. Per his Instagram account, Halsey was eager to see his bout claim main event status.
Halsey is a hulking middleweight who stands 6'0" and can strike with power. As hard as he can punch, it's his wrestling and submissions that make him so fierce. His takedowns are devastating, and his ground-and-pound is relentless.
Carvalho stands 6'3", so he'll have a three-inch height advantage. He's also an excellent striker.
His record stands at 11-1, with nine of those wins coming by KO/TKO. If he can keep the fight standing, he has a great chance to win. That's much easier said than done against Halsey, though. The former champion puts a lot of pressure on his opponents, and he's not exactly easy to hit.
While the Brazilian has an edge when it comes to striking and length, it won't be enough to keep Halsey off him. At some point, this fight will go to the ground, and that's where Halsey always wins. He will wear Carvalho down and regain the belt with a TKO finish.
Ward Will Smoke Olson
Dennis Olson is a veteran of 24 professional MMA bouts, but his experience won't do him much good Friday. He will face the dynamic Brennan Ward in a welterweight fight the former can't win.
Matthew Holt of CG Analytics doesn't give Olson much of a chance to win either:
Ward is one of the most explosive strikers in Bellator, and he's facing a guy who has been stopped four times via strikes—including the last time out against Paul Daley in July. The speed and power advantage Ward will carry into this bout will be the difference.
It'll be a shock if this one makes it out of the first round.
Yamauchi's Ground Game Will Be Superior
In a battle between Japanese featherweights, expect Bellator veteran Goiti Yamauchi to prevail over Isao Kobayashi. Yamauchi's submission game is elite.
The 22-year-old is 5-1 in Bellator and 18-2 overall. Of his 18 wins, 14 have come by way of submission. His preference appears to be the rear-naked choke, as he's used that maneuver to finish off 10 of his opponents.
Kobayashi will be the 11th.
He has a tendency to get wild—especially during ground scrambles. That will leave his neck open to the opportunistic and skilled Yamauchi. The end result will be another submission victory for the up-and-coming young featherweight.
MVP Will Score Another Quick KO
Welterweight contender Michael "Venom" Page is part Anderson Silva and part Conor McGregor, only he hasn't fought major competition as of yet in his career. To his credit, he's made the fighters he has faced look like amateurs in the cage with him.
After Friday, you can add Charlie Ontiveros' name to that list. He's making his Bellator debut after nine fights in the Legacy Fighting Championship. Athletically, Page is on another level. His speed, length and one-strike KO power will devastate Ontiveros.
He's never faced a fighter on Page's level, and it won't take long for that to show. Page and Ward may be on a collision course somewhere down the line. That'll be fun if it comes to fruition. For now, we'll have to settle for seeing the two of them shine on the same card.
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