Bellator 214 signifies the end of the World Heavyweight Grand Prix, and another week of Cageside Press Staff Picks.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Anderson (6-0) |  |  |  |  |  |
| John Franklin (6-0) | | | | | |
| Tony Fagnano (5-1) | |  | |  | |
| Alex Scaffadi (5-1) | | | | | |
| Drake Riggs (5-1) | | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (4-2) | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (4-2) | | | | | |
| Shawn Bitter (4-2) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (4-2) | | | | | |
| Al Zullino (4-2) |  | | | |  |
| Bryson Hester (4-2) | | | | | |
| Jason Payne (4-2) | | | | | |
| Steve King (4-2) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (3-3) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (3-3) | | | | | |
| Heath Harshman (3-3) | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (3-3) | | | | | |
| Mike Straus (3-3) | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (3-3) | | | | | |
| Blaine Henry (3-3) | | | | | |
| Josh Stillman (2-4) | | | | | |
The main event of Bellator 214 pits light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader against the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. Bader quickly knocked out King Muhammad Lawal and wrestled by Matt Mitrione on his way to the tournament finals. On the other side, Fedor knocked out Frank Mir in a quick brawl, then scored a late first-round TKO against Chael Sonnen. Ryan Bader received 16 of 20 picks against the legend.
The co-main event is a possible top contender bout in the featherweight division. Both Henry Corrales and Aaron Pico will put their four-fight win streaks on the line on Saturday night. Pico is one of the most hyped prospects in all of MMA, while Corrales is reaching his potential after moving to The MMA Lab. 14 writers favored the young Aaron Pico in the co-main event.
Jake Hager will be making his professional debut on the main card against JW Kiser. A professional debut is this high on the card because Hager is better known by his WWE persona, Jack Swagger. Hager was a Division 1 All-American wrestler in college at Oklahoma University and hopes to translate that skillset to MMA. His opponent, 40-year-old JW Kiser, had 18 fights as an amateur before turning pro and going 1-1. Hager was picked unanimously.
The future is coming on the Bellator 214 main card in the form of a matchup between Ricky Bandejas and Juan Archuleta. Bandejas is 11-1 in his career and knocked out top prospect James Gallagher in devastating fashion in his promotional debut. Archuleta has an excellent 21-1 record and is 3-0 in the Bellator cage thus far. 16 writers believe the Bandejas hype train will be slowed down tonight.
Opening up the main card will be Brandon McMahon vs. Adel Altamimi. McMahon is making his promotional debut and is looking to snap a two-fight losing streak. Altamimi is also making his first walk to the Bellator cage, and had a five-fight win streak snapped by the aforementioned Juan Archuleta in his last fight. All but one writer sided with the Iraqi Altamimi.
