Few writers responding for the latest edition of our staff picks were doubting Gegard Mousasi or Patricio Pitbull at Bellator 228.
Bellator MMA was in action Saturday with a tentpole event in the form of Bellator 228. The Los Angeles card featured the return of the featherweight grand prix, which had begun earlier in the month. The second half of the opening round fights were set to go down — as was a key middleweight scrap between Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi.
The former UFC fighters were facing off for the second time, following a 2014 fight that Machida won via unanimous decision. The winner of Machida vs. Mousasi would likely have a shot at middleweight gold, and possibly even a chance at Ryan Bader’s light heavyweight belt.
Part of the grand prix also had Patricio Pitbull putting his title on the line against Juan Archuleta, in the most important opening round fight.
Our picks are in! See who our staff writers think will get their hand raised at Bellator 228 below.
| Staff Writers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Payne (146-70) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Joe McDonagh (139-69) | | | | | |
| Keith Shillan (103-54) | |  |  | | |
| Heath Harshman (138-78) | | | | | |
| Ryan Fortune (99-58) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (136-80) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (129-82) | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (132-85) | | | |  | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (129-87) | | | | |  |
| Mike McClory (84-59) | | | | | |
Gegard Mousasi and Patricio Pitbull were popular picks on Saturday. All but one writer was expecting to see Pitbull retain his title in the opening round of the featherweight grand prix, where he was taking on Juan Archuleta. And all but one fighter expected Gegard Mousasi to have his revenge on former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida.
The rest of the grand prix field had all but one writer choosing Daniel Weichel, while A.J. McKee was a unanimous choice. Darrion Caldwell vs. Henry Corrales was the closest thing to a toss-up. Corrales was the favorite by a 6-4 margin.
