During the main card of the Bellator 103 fight card in Kansas we are going to see a war between two of Bellator’s best light heavyweights when Aaron Rosa takes on Mikhail Zayats. Rosa has fought at the highest level of the sports in both Strikeforce and the UFC having taken victories in both. Zayats on the other hand was the Runner-Up to the Season 8 Light Heavyweight tournament only losing to Emmanuel Newton in his Bellator career. So without any further interruptions here is my breakdown for the match up.
Striking
Rosa is known as being a bit of a brawler and a banger and the proof is in his six wins by knockout. Though he’s not the most technical striker, he does have the ability to end the fight without any notice and at any moment. We’ll see if he has the opportunity to do so when he fights Zayats.
Mikhail Zayats isn’t a bad striker by any means, he has four wins by knockout in his 21 professional MMA wins most recently he holds a knockout win over MMA legend Babalu Sobral. Zayats tends to be more of a technical striker in comparisson to Rosa so we’ll see who is more effective on the feet!
Verdict: Edge Zayats.
Submissions
Rosa does have four wins by submission, all by rear naked choke on the regional circuit. He has yet to take on a fighter with a stellar submission game and taking on a World Combat Sambo Champion in Zayats will definitely be a test for Rosa and will show us all where he really stands.
As I said above, Zayats is a World Combat Sambo Champion and has 11 wins by submission in his 21 professional MMA victories. Above all he has a nasty armbar having five of his 11 submission wins coming by way of submission. He even showed some decent ground work in his fight with Vinny Magalhaes!
Verdict: Edge Zayats.
Grappling
Rosa has some decent takedown defense, but other than that his game is pretty mediocre and will be put to the test against Zayats. Rosa’s best chance will be to keep the fight standing and try to brawl it out.
Zayats grappling is at a pretty high level. He uses some good trips and throws instead of shoot takedowns. On the ground he is aggressive with the submissions and uses some great ground and pound.
Verdict: Edge Zayats.
Prediction
I think Zayats will go back to his winning ways in this matchup, I’m predicting an early armbar so he Rosa doesn’t have a chance to work up a sweat. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zayats takes decision either, he has good cardio and showed lots of heart and the ability to take a punch in his loss to Emanuel Newton.
– Josh Leduc
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