Bellator 41 Preview – Featuring Fight Analysis of Makovsky vs. Robichaux!

April 14, 2011 – Bellator 41 kicks off this Saturday from Yuma, Arizona in an event featuring the lighter weight divisions in the Bellator Season Four tournament. With an 8PM start time on MTV2, the event will also feature Texas’ own in Houston-based fighter Chad Robichaux, who is set to make his Bellator debut in a clash with Bellator’s current bantamweight champion, Zach Makovsky, in the main event of the evening in a non-title bout.

Also featured on the card is 2012 Olympic hopeful Joe Warren, the current Bellator featherweight champion. A decorate amateur wrestler and veteran of the USA Wrestling circuit,  Warren has lit the MMA world on fire with his overpowering style, like up names like Chase Beebe, Kid Yamamoto, Patricio Freire, and others en route to a 6-1 MMA record. Warren will be taking on Nova Uniao black belt Marcos Galvão in a 137 catchweight bout in the second featured bout of the evening.

Rounding off the card are two featherweight tournament semifinal bouts as Kenny Foster takes on Daniel Strauss while Patricio “Pitbull Freire takes on Wilson Reis once again in a rematch from last season’s semifinal bout that resulted in the lone blemish on Reis’ 15-1 record.

Let’s take a quick look at the featured bout of the evening.

Chad “Robo” Robichaux, known around Houston as simply “Robo” sports an 11-0 record, ten of which are by submission. A Gracie Barra black belt, Robichaux recently signed with the Alchemist management brand, notably headed by M.C. Hammer. Not too sure what effect that will have on this fight but he’ll definitely need to bring the hammer in his fists to win the biggest fight of his career against his equally-decorated opponent. Working with a world-class training camp including Vinicius Magalhaes, Jody Trantham, and noted-Fabricio Werdum trainer Octavio “Rathinho” Couto, Robichaux will be nothing if not prepared heading into this bout.

His opponent, Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky, is a noted wrestling specialist who currently holds Bellator’s prestigious belt in the 135 class, a feat he gained right to after winning six straight, culminating in the title win over Ed West at Bellator 32. Training out of Philadelphia Fight Factory, “Fun Size” trains with a plethora of high-level training partners of his own, most notably Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who recently defended his title against Pat Curran less than two weeks ago.

Fight Analysis – Zach Makovsky versus Chad Robichaux

Current betting odds on this fight currently have Makovsky as a 3-1 favorite. That certainly is warranted considering the champion’s recent record and level of competition. However, many prognosticators are also indicating “Robo” as a live underdog in this fight due to the actual matchup. Makovsky has won his last four Bellator fights but all but one, in his Bellator debut, have been decision. Zach relies heavily on a grab-and-smash-em style that plays into his wrestling strength.

On the other end of the cage, Robichaux will look to counter Makovsky’s game by utilizing his own strengths, which of course is jiu-jitsu. Those that have rolled with him know that Robo has decent judo skills of his own and likes to reverse his opponents so look for him to gain top position with his patented “Robo-Roll” and technical prowess in the scramble.

In the striking arena, time will tell if tell who is the superior of the two but either way, look for this bout to end up on the ground barring a flash knockout by either fighter.

I look for the winner of this fight to be the fighter who will best be able to utilize their skill set in order to capitalize and control their opponent on the ground. With that in mind, look for Makovsky to try and smash “Robo” into submission while Chad will try and catch “Fun Size” off the scrambles with a literal submission of his own. Either way, I do not see this one ending in the hands of the judges.

Texas Viewing Information

All four Houston locations of Buffalo Wild Wings are having an “Official Watch Party” for this event in support of Chad, the hometown fighter. Feel free to watch the event at any of those placed on Saturday night.

Also of note is that VA Hospital and Soldiers Angels in San Antonio is having a watch party for the Disabled Vets at the Soldiers Angels Support Center in support of Robichaux, a noted USAF veteran.

We end this off with a message from Houston’s Chad Robichaux:

“I’m winning this fight. I treated this like my time to seize the moment and I will. He is where we all want to be and I’m trading places with him April 16… this is my time.”