Lavar Johnson vs Blagoi Ivanov headline Bellator 116 this Friday in Temecula, California. Johnson and Ivanov will be fighting for a spot in the Heavyweight tournament finals. Siala-mou “Mighty Mo” Siliga and Alexander Volkov will also be trying to punch their ticket to the Heaveyweight finals. The other fights on the main card include the Welterweight tournament semifinal between Nathan Coy vs Adam McDonough, and a Light Heavyweight feature fight between Joey Beltran and Vladimir Matyushenko.
Beltran vs Matyushenko:
Beltran was last seen getting knocked out by Rampage Jackson, while Matyushenko won a tedious decision over Houston Alexander. Beltran was badly overmatched against Rampage but against Matyushenko, this shouldn’t be the case. Matyushenko looked very tired and very OLD in his last fight. I don’t think he will last against Beltran and his aggressiveness.
Prediction: Beltran wins via 2nd rnd TKO
Coy vs McDonough
Coy and McDonough both won decisions to get into this semifinal fight. Both fighters are tough and have good gas tanks. I think Coy’s superior hand speed and nice left straight will lead him to victory in this one.
Prediction: Coy wins via unanimous decision
Siliga vs Volkov
Siliga submitted Peter Graham to get into this semifinal fight, while Volkov knocked out Mark Holata. As much as I would love to see Siliga win this one, I don’t think he gets it done here. Volkov will use his reach to out strike Siliga and eventually wear him down.
Prediction: Volkov wins via 3rd rnd TKO
Johnson vs Ivanov
This Heavyweight bout has some explosive potential. In their last fights Ivanov defeated Rich Hale by decision and Johnson knocked out Ryan Martinez in the first round. This fight should be fairly competitive, as both fighters have serious power, but I think Johnson’s higher level experience will help him weather the storm and punch his ticket to the finals.
Prediction: Johnson wins via 1st rnd TKO
Thanks for reading! Comment below who you think will win!
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