Bellator 206 will take place this weekend, on a Saturday, not on its usual Friday and the main reason is because this is one of the biggest events of the year! The event will take place from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
The event will not be seen on the Paramount Network like usual. Instead, they will debut the new combat sports pay per view network DAZN. DAZN will charge a month service fee to have access to their streamed events compared to paying $50-$75 per event.
This will be the first event streamed on DAZN and remains to be seen how the success plays out. There are several great fights on this card including the Main Event between Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald. There will also be the kickoff of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix, where we will see Andrey Koreshkov take on Douglas Lima in the third fight of their trilogy.
Bellator 206 Main Event Breakdowns
The Main Event will feature Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald facing off in Bellator’s first real super-fight. MacDonald is the Bellator Welterweight Champion and Mousasi is the Bellator Middleweight Champion. MacDonald will be moving up in weight and fighting at Middleweight for the first time.
Mousasi is 44-6-2 in 52 professional MMA fights. He has fought as heavy as Heavyweight and is very big for the Middleweight Division. MacDonald is 20-4 in his 24 professional MMA fights and has fought the majority of his career at Welterweight. Rory is big for the Welterweight Division but he is going to be very small for the Middleweight Division.
Rory walks around at a normal weight around 190lbs. Mousasi is big for the division and walks around at just over 200-210lbs. Mousasi is going to have a major size difference come Saturday Night but if the fight hits the ground, MacDonald should have the grappling advantage.
I think the difference here will be the cardio in the later rounds. With Rory not having to cut weight, I think he will have a edge late in the fight. I’m not saying he will dominate this fight but at +236, he is worth a look.
Bellator 206 Handicapping Selection: Rory MacDonald +236 via 3rd rd TKO
Bellator 206 Co-Main Event Breakdown
The Co-Main Event will be a fight that has been staged 3 times already and this will be the 4th time they’ve faced off as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will take on Wanderlei Silva in the heavyweight division.
Silva currently leads the edge in the past 3 fights, winning the first 2 fights by KO. Both of those fights happened in 2003 and 2004, and Jackson was KO’d in both by knee strikes. In the most recent fight between the two, Jackson won the fight by 1st rd KO, back in 2008.
Both of these guys are well past their prime and to be honest, neither belong fighting inside a cage. Both of these guys are going to come in looking to knock the other’s head off their shoulders as there is no love lost between the two fighters. This fight is in the heavyweight division and that means cardio isn’t going to be very good. Someone will get finished in this fight!
Bellator 206 Handicapping Selection: Silva vs. Jackson Doesn’t Go The Distance -195
Bellator 206 Additional Main Card Fights
Andrey Koreshkov vs. Douglas Lima – This is the kickoff of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. Both of these guys hold a win over the other and both were once the Bellator Welterweight Champion. This is a great fight and probably will end up being the fight of the night!
Aaron Pico vs. Leandro Higo – Aaron Pico comes in as a BIG favorite in this fight at -588 but is he worthy of those odds? He only has 4 pro fights and lost his very first pro fight and has since won three consecutive fights. He now fights a very dangerous opponent in Leandro Higo, who has gone the distance with Eduardo Dantas and Joe Taimanglo.
Dakota Zimmerman vs. Keri Melendez – Dakota Zimmerman will be making her pro debut and facing 3-0 Keri Melendez. Melendez has a won by KO, SUB and Decision. Melendez is the biggest favorite on the card at -1300 while the return on Zimmerman is +675.
Gaston Bolanos vs. Ysidro Gutierrez – Bolanos is a big -600 favorite and again, you have to question whether or not he is worthy of those big odds. He is 3-1 and facing Gutierrez, who is 4-2. Not really the most interesting fight but one that bettors can take advantage of if they like playing the underdog.