With the tournament grand prize being a title shot versus current 145 champ Joe Warren, Bellator has assembled an all-star cast to compete in the eight-man grand prix alongside Schindler and Mann. Other 145’ers set to compete include former Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro and last season’s lightweight tourney winner Pat Curran along with Luis Palomino, Genair da Silva, Nazareno Malegarie, and Jacob DeVree.
Also of note to Texas fans keeping an eye on Bellator 46 will be the appearance of Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis (4-1). Fighting out of Silverback Fight Club in Houston, TX, the 6’3″ heavyweight has won his last three fights en route to this Saturday’s fight with Tony Johnson Jr (6-1). As he stated in a recent pre-fight interview with TXMMA detailing his beginnings in the sport, “The Black Beast” was supposed to make his national debut as part of Bellator 45 before his previous opponent backed away due to injury. Now Lewis will be fighting Johnson with a shot at next season’s heavyweight tournament on the line.
Let’s break down the main fights on this card.
Bellator 46 Main Card – “Summer Series” Quarterfinals
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Pat Curran vs. Luis Palomino
Fight Analysis
Last Spring, Chicago’s Pat Curran (13-4) used the 2010 Bellator Lightweight tournament to mark his arrival on the national MMA scene. Curran defeated GSP protege Mike Ricci, highly-touted Roger Huerta, and Toby Imada to win the 155 series and earn the shot against still-champ Eddie Alvarez. Curran would go on to lose that fight via unanimous decision and drop down to the 145 class for his second go at a tournament win.
His opponent, Luis Palomino (16-6), is a solid journeyman under Team Nogueira with eight years of fighting experience behind him. Thus far, Palomino’s career highlights have been wins against Jorge Masvidal and Austin’s own Nick “The Ghost” Gonzalez. Palomino will enter this fight with Curran coming off a three-fight win-streak outside of Bellator.
Prediction
As a former high school wrestling stand-out with ever-improving submission skills courtesy of his cousin, teacher, and former UFC-vet Jeff Curran, Pat is just starting to reach his potential in MMA. Yes, he did lose his last big fight against Eddie Alvarez but he displayed a gritty performance throughout. Look for Curran to re-assert himself in this bout en route to a submission victory.
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Marlon Sandro vs. Genair da Silva
Fight Analysis
Arriving to Bellator as the current featherweight King of Pancrase and the former World Victory Road Featherweight champion, Marlon Sandro (17-2) has long been considered one of the top featheweight fighters in the world not competing in the United States. All that changes when he makes his debut as part of the “Summer Series” tournament this Saturday.
Getting the pleasure of facing Sandro in his debut will be Genair “Junior PQD” da Silva (10-3), a highly-touted prospect out of Renovacao Fight Team in Brazil. “Junior PQD” is an explosive fighter looking to make waves against his fellow countryman, Sandro.
Prediction
A BJJ black belt under Nova União and as explosive a striker as they come, the 34-year-old Marlon Sandro will enter this bout as the favorite by a large margin. If anything, he will go into this bout as the far more experienced fighter with his international pedigree and familiarity with top-level competition. Look for “Junior PQD” to match Sandro’s momentum but eventually fall prey and get caught by the seasoned Marlon Sandro.
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Nazareno Malegarie vs. Jacob DeVree
Fight Analysis
A native of Argentina, Nazareno “Naza” Malegarie (19-1) is a twenty-five year old BJJ black belt that holds the distinction of being a Brazilian National Champion. “Naza” made his Bellator debut just this past March, losing a unanimous decision to Daniel Strauss in a bout that was named ‘fight of the night.’
Jacob Devree (10-1) will also enter this bout with only one blemish on his record also by decision, albeit much earlier in his career. Since 2009, the Arizonan has been on a tear, winning his last seven fights to earn his way into the Bellator 145 tournament.
Prediction
Fighting regional level compeition, Jacob Devree has made a living of submitting his opponents via rear-naked-choke (5 out of 10 wins). He’s going to have to find another way if he wants to win this fight with Malegarie. “Naza” is simply the more dangerous fighter entering this bout and may just be the dark horse to make it deep into the tournament. Look for Malegarie to win this bout via unanimous decision.
Featherweight Quarterfinal bout: Ronnie Mann vs. Adam Schindler
Fight Analysis
The “Kid Ninja” Ronnie Mann (19-2-1) will be making his Bellator debut as a highly-touted veteran of international promotions Shark Fights and Sengoku. Mann is also the current Shark Fights featherweight champion after defeating Doug Evans for the belt in September of 2010. Only 24-years-old, many are looking at the exciting British as one of the dark horses to go all the way in this tournament.
Facing Mann will be Strikeforce and Bellator veteran Adam Schindler (9-1), a wrestler by pedigree who’s also been getting increasingly more comfortable with his developing striking skills courtesy of Houston’s 4OZ Fight Club. Schindler enters the “Summer Series” tournament having been undefeated since his lone loss back in 2009.
Prediction
As a BJJ brown belt and muay-thai specialist known for flying knees and the like, the internationally-known Ronnie Mann will enter this bout as the favorite on any betting sheet you look at. However, he may also stand the greatest chance of being upset in the first round of this tournament. If Adam Schindler can weather the storm standing up and take the fight to the ground and control top position like Doug Evans partially-succeeded in doing to Mann at Shark Fights, then I believe he can take this bout via unanimous decision and move on to the second round of the tourney as a fighter to take notice of.
Bellator 46 – Local Featured Undercard
Middleweight bout: Dan Cramer vs. Josh Samman
Prediction – Dan Cramer is a former TUF competitor on the show’s seventh season, making it to the second round before running into Tim Credeur. He’s won his last two at Bellator. Looking for him to get his third here.
Featherweight bout: Alexandre Bezerra vs. Matt McCook
Prediction – TBH, I don’t know who either of these guys are but I’ll have to go with the Brazilian Bezerra to get the McFinish on McCook.
Heavyweight bout: Tony Johnson Jr. vs. Derrick Lewis
Prediction –Tony Johnson Jr will walk into the Bellator cage as the favorite by a large margin thanks to his KOTC championship and wrestling accomplishments. With that being said, Lewis hits like a truck and won’t stop coming. He can get the upset if he stymies the takedown attempts and hurts the stocky Johnson early.
Women’s (125) lbs. bout: Jessica Aguilar vs. Carla Esparza
Prediction – As a Ricardo Liborio purple belt, Jessica Aguilar is a submission machine. If she can get the fight to the ground, she should win this one in the early going.
Middleweight bout: Moyses Gabin vs. David Baggett
Prediction – One’s nickname is “Baggs” while the other goes by the monicker of “The Savage.” Based purely on that, I’m going with Moyses Gabin for the win.
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