Bellator 123 Predictions

                                 

Bellator 123 Predictions

September 1, 2014

By Ryan Porzl

Bobby Lashley vs. Josh Burns

Nickname:                                       The Dominator    |   The Hammer

Height:                                                      6'2             |         6'1

Age:                                                            38             |     Unknown

MMA Record (BMMA):                    10-2 (0-0)      |      8-7 (0-4)

Arm Length:                                              76 in.         |        72 in.

Team:                              American Top Team Altitude | Hammer House

Weight Class:                                        Heavyweight (265 pounds)

Notes: Lashley's Bellator debut

Preview: Lashley is riding a three fight win streak. His recent win was over Tony Melton by unanimous decision at Xtreme Fight Night 15 (November 8, 2013). Burns is coming off a loss to Raphael Butler by submission at Bellator 105 (October 25, 2013).

Prediction: Lashley. Let's be honest, this is fight clearly made to introduce Lashley to the Bellator audience. Burns is one of the those fighters that Bellator brings in to get crushed by a newcomer and/or a prospect. Lashley has a lot going for him as he's a great wrestler, a great athlete, and very good with submissions. Burns is also very easy to finish as he's been stopped in all seven losses as he's lost by T/KO four times and submitted three times. Even if Lashley doesn't submit Burns, he could probably take Burns down and ground n' pound Burns until getting a TKO or score points until the end of the third round. This is the type of fight that's not only winnable for Lashley but the type where he can show off his skills.

Muhammed Lawal vs. Dustin Jacoby

Nickname:                                            King Mo         |          None

Height:                                                       6'0             |           6'4

Age:                                                             33             |           26

MMA Record (BMMA):               12-4, 1NC (4-3)   |     10-3 (0-0)

Arm Length:                                               79 in.          |          77 in.

Team:                                            American Top Team |  Finney's HIT Squad

Weight Class:                                     Light Heavyweight (205 pounds)

Notes: Jacoby is replacing Tom DeBlass and Marcus Sursa. Jacoby's Bellator Debut.

Preview: Lawal is coming off a loss to Quinton Jackson by unanimous decision at Bellator 117 (May 17, 2014). Sursa is riding a two fight win streak. His recent win was over Lucas Lopes by TKO at Titan FC 29 (August 22, 2014).

Prediction: Lawal. For one Jacoby is taking this fight on a weeks notice. Second, Jacoby just fought two weeks earlier. While the fight went around four minutes, Jacoby still trained for the fight and will go right back to the gym. Lawal is well-known for having excellent wrestling, is a strong athlete, and should be able to get it to the ground and keep it there if he wants. Jacoby did get taken down a few times when he fought David Branch in World Series of Fighting so if Branch could do it, then Lawal should. He also has good boxing and knockout power so he can hold his own standing as well. Best of all, Lawal seems like he's fighting smarter these days. Like many grapplers, Lawal would ignore his grappling and focus too much on his striking. If this fight stays standing then Jacoby does have a chance as he's won most of his fights by knockout.

Cheick Ouedraogo vs. Lavar Johnson

Nickname:                                         Kongo               |           Big

Height:                                                  6'4                  |           6'4

Age:                                                        39                 |            37

MMA Record (BMMA):              21-9-2 (3-1)         |       18-9 (1-2)

Arm Length:                                         82 in.               |           81 in.

Team:                                  Wolfslair MMA Academy |      Pro Buhave

Weight Class:                                     Heavyweight (265 pounds)

Notes:

Preview: Kongo is coming off a win over Eric Smith by TKO at Bellator 120 (May 17, 2014). Johnson is coming off a loss to Blagoi Ivanov by submission at Bellator 116 (April 11, 2014).

Prediction: Kongo. Unless Kongo is foolish, stands, and trades leather than I can't see how Johnson wins this since he has little to no ground skills and no cardio. When he gets taken down most of the time, he comes off as a turtle on it's back. He doesn't have much takedown defense and he struggles to get back up when he's on the ground. Kongo is a very good striker, is good at working on his opponent while on the cage, and very good offensively on the ground. This fight will likely see Kongo either pin Johnson to the cage and work him over or take him to the ground and ground n' pound him.

Pat Curran vs. Patricio Freire

Nickname:                                       Paddy Mike   |          Pitbull

Height:                                                   5'9           |             5'5

Age:                                                         27          |              27

MMA Record (BMMA):               20-5 (10-2)   |         21-2 (9-2)

Arm Length:                                            73 in.      |            65 in.

Team:                                                Team Curran |      Black House

Weight Class:                                       Featherweight (145 pounds)

Notes: For the Bellator Featherweight Championship

Preview: Curran is coming off a win over Daniel Straus by submission at Bellator 112 (March 14, 2014). Freire is riding a four fight win streak. His recent win was over Justin Wilcox by TKO at Bellator 108 (November 15, 2013).

Prediction: Freire. Freire has a lot going for him. He hits hard, he's a good striker, has good jiu-jitsu, and is aggressive. He's very hard to finish as he's never been knocked out or submitted. His only losses have not only been decisions but both were very close split decisions. Curran's a great fighter but it's hard to see where he is mentally. In the first fight with Daniel Straus, he clearly gave up mentally as the fight wore on especially after accidentally kneeing Straus while he was on the ground and got a point deducted. In his next fight, he beat Straus in a rematch after submitting him with only fourteen seconds left in the fight showing he can be a threat anytime during the fight. I guess another reason I'm going with Freire is a gut feeling. He's come so close two times already and I feel third times the charm.