Bellator 245 kicks off back-to-back events for the promotion and a rematch between Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida is the main event for Friday’s card.
| Staff Writers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fortune (95-48) |  |  |  |  |
| Jay Anderson (90-53) | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (87-56) | | | |  |
| Mike McClory (36-26) | | | | |
| Justin Gibbons (60-47) | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (77-61) | | | | |
| Dylan Bowker (69-56) | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (77-66) | | | | |
| Eddie Law (53-48) | | | | |
The main event of Bellator 245 features veteran light heavyweights Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida in a rematch seven years in the making. Davis took home a unanimous decision last time, but it was not without controversy as many scored the fight for Machida. Since coming to Bellator, Davis is 8-2 and won the title, adding one defense. Since losing the belt, Davis is 4-1. Machida is 2-1 since signing with the promotion, losing to Gegard Mousasi last time out. Davis was picked by five of nine writers.
Cat Zingano will make her promotional debut in the co-main event against Gabby Holloway. Zingano is 1-4 in her last five with the last loss being a freak eye injury against Megan Anderson back in 2018. Holloway hasn’t fought since 2017 due to an injury, but is 1-0 in the Bellator cage. Zingano was unanimously picked.
Three-time NCAA Champion Ed Ruth takes on Taylor Johnson on the main card. Ruth has spent his entire career with Bellator and is 8-2 with six stoppages. He’ll be looking to bounce back from a loss against Yaroslav Amosov. Johnson started his career with five straight first-round knockouts, but was unable to win on his Contender Series appearance and now finds himself against Ruth. Ruth was unanimously picked.
Kickboxing great Raymond Daniels kicks off the main card against Peter Stanonik. Since returning to MMA last year, Daniels has racked up a pair of stunning knockouts. Stanonik is a kickboxer as well, but is 5-4 in MMA. Daniels was unanimously picked.
