On Thursday, October 15th, Bellator will be live from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, for Bellator 249 featuring a main event women’s featherweight title fight as Cris Cyborg defends her title against Arlene Blencowe.
In addition to the main event, there are three other main card fights including Patricky Freire vs Jaleel Willis, Ricky Bandejas vs Leandro Higo, and Saad Awad vs Mandel Nallo.
In total, Bellator 249 has 11 fights scheduled with a prelim card start time of 7:30PM ET and a main card start time of 10PM ET on CBS Sports Network.
Let’s step inside the betting octagon to examine the available Bellator 249 betting odds courtesy of the best Bellator betting sites and TKO our predictions.
🗣It’s fight week!@CrisCyborg puts her belt on the line against @ArleneAngerfist this Thursday on @CBSSportsNet at 10pm ET / 7pm PT.
Also LIVE on @SkySports in 🇬🇧 at 2am BST.#Bellator249 pic.twitter.com/tYDxIVqpsV
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 12, 2020
Saad Awad vs Mandel Nallo
- Saad Awad (23-13)
- Mandel Nallo (7-1)
Saad Awad enters this weekend’s bout having lost four straight fights. He last competed one year ago and lost via 2nd round TKO to Paul Daley. Awad is 11-9 in Bellator and is in desperate need of breaking this losing streak.
17 of his 23 pro wins have come via stoppage with 10 by way of TKO/KO. He’s 5-6 when going the distance.
Mandel Nallo last fought one year ago and lost via TKO due to a leg injury in the 3rd round. It was the first loss of his pro career and it dropped his Bellator record to 2-1 overall. Nallo’s first two Bellator wins were highlight reel knockouts.
All seven of his pro wins have come via stoppage with four by way of submission. He’s never gone the distance in a fight.
Despite his losses, Awad is still a solid lightweight. He’s a tough out, but still capable of winning his Bellator bouts. Awad will be the toughest opponent that Nallo has faced and I have a hard time thinking the Canadian will be able to overcome Saad in this contest.
I’m taking Saad Awad to win via decision.
Saad Awad vs Mandel Nallo –Awad (23-13)
Ricky Bandejas vs Leandro Higo
- Ricky Bandejas (13-4)
- Leandro Higo (19-5)
Leandro Higo last competed 13 months ago and won via 2nd round submission. The victory snapped a two fight losing streak. Higo is 2-3 overall in Bellator since joining in early 2017. His teammate Freire will also be competing on the card.
14 of his 19 pro wins have come via stoppage with 11 victories by way of submission. He’s 5-2 when going the distance.
Ricky Bandejas has been a touted bantamweight in Bellator, but sports a 3-3 record and has lost to top the talent in the division like: Archuleta, Mix and most recently to Pettis in July.
Nine of his 13 pro wins have come via stoppage with six by way of TKO/KO. He’s 4-2 when going the distance.
Higo has potential, but I still think he’s a rung lower on the ladder than Bandejas. I expect Bandejas to win this bout whether it’s a firefight on the feet or a grappling match on the mat. Either way, Bandejas will pick up a solid win so you should consider taking him moneyline once odds are officially released.
Ricky Bandejas vs Leandro Higo –Bandejas (13-4)
Patricky Freire vs Jaleel Willis
- Patricky Freire (23-9)
- Jaleel Willis (13-2)
The co-main event of the night is an intriguing matchup between Patricky Freire and LFA welterweight champ Jaleel Willis. However, this fight will be contested at lightweight and not the welterweight limit.
Willis signed with the promotion in September and is the third LFA champion to jump ship to Bellator this year.
Willis will make a return to Bellator for his second fight with the promotion having first fought for the company four years ago. He’s won four straight contests and last competed two months ago where he captured the LFA welterweight title.
Five of his 13 pro wins have come via TKO/KO. He’s 8-1 when going the distance.
Patricky Freire is the brother of Patricio Freire who is a “champ champ” for the promotion. Freire last competed in Rizin FF in December 2019 and lost via unanimous decision. That defeat snapped a seven fight win streak.
Freire has won five straight Bellator fights with his last bout in the promotion coming in February 2019. He’s spent the last year fighting in Rizin’s lightweight Grand Prix where he went 2-1 and lost in the finals to Tofiq Musayev. Freire is 14-7 overall in Bellator.
16 of his 23 pro wins have come via stoppage with 15 by way of TKO/KO. He’s 7-6 when going the distance.
This is going to be a tough fight for Jaleel Willis as he’s facing a veteran opponent who has the patience and knockout power to end this fight whenever Willis makes a mistake. Jaleel will have to fight the best fight of his life and I just don’t see that happening.
I’m taking Freire to win this bout and eventually compete for the lightweight title once his brother decides to stop defending it or loses.
Patricky Freire vs Jaleel Willis –Freire (23-9)
Cris Cyborg vs Arlene Blencowe
- Cris Cyborg (-900)
- Arlene Blencowe (+550)
This is Blencowe’s biggest fight to date. The Australian has won three straight bouts, which has brought her Bellator record to 4-1 overall. Her lone loss under the Bellator banner was to Julia Budd in December 2017. Budd just lost the title to Cyborg nine months ago.
Eight of her 13 pro wins have come via stoppage with seven by way of TKO/KO. She’s 5-3 when going the distance.
As mentioned, Cyborg won the featherweight title in January when she debuted for Bellator and beat longtime champ Julia Budd via 4th round TKO. She’s 2-0 following the dramatic loss to Amanda Nunes in December 2018 which snapped Cyborg’s 20 fight win streak.
18 of her 22 pro wins have come via TKO/KO. Cyborg is 4-0 when going the distance in a fight. She has the height, reach, size and strength advantages.
Blencowe has never suffered a knockout loss in her career, but I believe that will change on Thursday. If Cyborg can TKO Budd, she can definitely TKO/KO Blencowe.
I understand some pundits are hyping up Blencowe, but she’s overmatched, overpowered and outgunned in this contest. Take Cyborg to win inside the distance via TKO/KO.
Cris Cyborg vs Arlene Blencowe –Cyborg (-900)
Full Bellator 249 Card
- Cris Cyborg (23-2) vs Arlene Blencowe (13-7)
- Patricky Freire (23-9) vs Jaleel Willis (13-2)
- Ricky Bandejas (13-4) vs Leandro Pitbull (19-5)
- Saad Awad (23-13) vs Mandel Nallo (7-1)
Preliminary Card
- Curtis Millender (18-6) vs Joe Schilling (4-6)
- Albert Gonzales (1-2) vs Kastriot Xhema (3-4)
- Steve Mowry (7-0) vs Shawn Teed (6-2-1)
- Aviv Gozali (4-0) vs Logan Neal (1-0)
- Christian Edwards (3-0) vs Hamza Salim (5-3)
- Kyle Crutchmer (6-0) vs Kemran Lachinov (9-2)
- Andrew Kapel (15-7) vs Joseph Creer (7-1-1)
- Mike Kimble (3-2) vs Da’Mon Blackshear (7-3)
Rick Rockwell
As a longtime freelance writer, avid sports fan, former athlete, and experienced sports bettor, Rick Rockwell has risen up the ranks at GamblingSites.org to become the self-professed “King of the Blog” in his first year with the site. …
