Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, Bellator 207 brought with it a heavyweight double header, with a Grand Prix Semi-Final between Matt Mitrione and Ryan Bader topping the card.
It was a big weekend for Bellator starting with Friday’s Bellator 207 in Connecticut. Atop the card, the first of two World Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-finals, as light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader took on Matt Mitrione, the man favored to win the tournament from the outside. In the co-main event, meanwhile, a knockout fan’s dream, as Roy Nelson took on Sergei Kharitonov.
We’ve got our staff picks ready — see who we’re going with for the main card at Bellator 207 on Friday!
| Staff Writer | Banks vs. Nallo | Slice vs. Browning | Larkin vs. Pascu | Nelson vs. Kharitonov | Mitrione vs. Bader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (104-52) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Dan Doherty (105-57) | | | | |  |
| Eddie Law (91-54) | | | | | |
| Mike Straus (96-66) | | | |  | |
| Jay Anderson (91-71) | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillete (84-68) | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (77-72) | | | | | |
Not surprisingly, the bottom half of the card was unanimous. All writers responding expect Carrington Banks, Kevin Ferguson Jr. (a.k.a. Baby Slice), and Lorenz Larkin to make short work of their opponents.
The co-main event and main event is where things got interesting. While Roy Nelson was a favorite among our writers, two sided with Sergei Kharitonov. The Russian veteran, known for runs in Pride and Strikeforce, was returning to Bellator for the first time since March 2017. However, in the interim he had been competing in Russia, and has not lost since 2016, a shock upset by Javy Ayala at Bellator 163.
In the main event, the heavyweight grand prix semi-final had our writers torn as well. While the bulk of those responding sided with Matt Mitrione, again, there were two naysayers expecting light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader to get the job done.
