The eight-man tournament has run the course of the entire summer beginning with the opening round at Bellator 46 this past June. Now it comes down to the two athletes labeled as the favorites going into this thing with Pat Curran and Marlon Sandro set to decide the ‘Summer Series’ tournament champion for the right to battle 145 champion Joe Warren down the line along with $100,000 in prize money.
Speaking of champions and tournament winners, heavyweight Cole Konrad will also be fighting on this card after ten-months of activity against West Texas native Paul Buentello in the co-main event of the evening. A former University of Minnesota wrestling standout and teammate of Brock Lesnar, Konrad hasn’t fought since winning the belt against Neil Grove this past October and will be facing a tough test from the UFC vet. For his part, Buentello is coming off a win against former TUF castmember Kerry Schall this past December and will now be looking to make it two in a row in his bid to climb back up the ladder.
Also highlighted on the card if former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez, who returns to Bellator to fight former Kimbo conqueror Seth Petruzelli. Cut from the UFC after two straight losses at the end of last year, Seth “The Silverback” is also looking to get back into the big show and will no doubt be vying to get closer to that goal against a like-minded “Suave.” For his part, Ricco is doing a lot of his pre-fight training in Houston’s Metro Fight Club with longtime trainer Saul Soliz so look for him to be in shape and ready to go for this one.
The televised card is rounded off with a lightweight bout featuring undefeated 28-year old Renê Nazare-Azevedo taking on Juan Barrantes in the opening fight of the night.
Here’s a short breakdown on the Bellator 48 card set to air on MTV2 this Saturday night.
“Summer Series” (145) Tournament Final – Pat Curran (15-4) vs. Marlon Sandro (19-2)
Pat Curran beat Luis Palomino and Ronnie Mann to get to his second tournament finale in two seasons of Bellator. He actually made the lightweight finale by beating Roger Huerta and Toby Imada en route to a championship loss to Eddie Alvarez before dropping down to 145. That’s no small feat and he’s proven himself to be an impressive, well-rounded, and powerful featherweight that’s dangerous in all areas.
In the finale, Curran will be taking on Marlon Sandro, long considered one of the best 145’ers in the world while fighting in Japan prior to signing with Bellator. An incredible striker, Sando has the potential to knock his opponents out cold and has done so on many occasions. He’s also a BJJ black belt under the Nova União team with the likes of José Aldo, etc. so he’s also a danger wherever the fight goes.
I expect this fight to be very strategic with Curran picking his spots rather than throwing caution to the wind against Sandro. If the fight ends up in a scramble Curran definitely has the advantage and can take the fight to the mat while the Brazilian may have more trouble doing so. I expect that’ll be the difference in this one.
My Prediction: Pat Curran via unanimous decision
Heavyweight Bout – Cole Konrad (7-0) vs. Paul Buentello (29-13)
He may have had a year off since starting in MMA just over one year ago but Cole Konrad sure picked up a lot of experience. The Golden Gopher went undefeated during seven bouts in 2010. Talk about a crach course in winning. He’s primarily used his wrestling skillset in those bouts and I’m not sure how he’s developed further since he hasn’t fought yet in 2011. Even if he’s the same fighter, he’s still a danger to anyone with his dominating wrestling style.
That wrestling will be the biggest thing “The Headunter” has to deal with in this fight. Buentello has made no bones about what type of fighter he is during the course of lengthy-career. He didn’t get his nickname for nothing. The veteran means to knock his opponents out and that’s exactly what he’ll look to do in this one.
As for this fight, I hate to say it so strongly but it’s kind of easy to call at this point. Konrad is developing and on his way up while the respected Buentello is on the twilight end of his own career. Look for Cole to time the shot and take Buentello down when he gets any opportunity. From there, it’ll be a struggle to survive on the ground for the West Texas native.
My Prediction: Cole Konrad via TKO in the second round.
Heavyweight Bout – Ricco Rodriguez (47-11) vs. Seth Petruzelli (13-6)
This fight is going to be really telling as far as whether Ricco will get there. Seth Petruzelli is a a fellow UFC vet who’s had his own lengthy career. He’s known as a talented striker and is also a competent striker that won’t be a walkover like Rodriguez’s last fight. He has the power to hurt anybody in the cage as he did Kimbo Slice and many others.
The key to this fight is whether “The Silverback” can circle and keep enough distance between him and the ADCC veteran before getting taken to the ground and kept there. If that happens, Rodriguez has this one in the bag.
My Prediction: Ricco Rodriguez via submission in the third round
Lightweight Bout – Rene Nazare (9-0) vs. Juan Barrantes (7-5)
Admittedly, and probably like most of you, I know next to nothing about these two fighters other than their records. Judging by that, it looks like one of Bellator’s latest signees is being fed a tuneup fight to welcome him into the organization.
Look for Nazare to quickly take Barrantes down and finish him like he’s done to seven of his first nine opponents.
My Prediction: Rene Nazare via submission in the first round
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