Bellator 273: Bader vs Moldavsky betting picks – 29/1/2022

Current Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader and interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky are set to clash in the main event of Bellator 273 this Saturday night. Here’s a look at this Bellator Heavyweight World Championship fight in Phoenix, Arizona, and the three bouts on the main card leading up to it.

Heavyweight: Ryan Bader (+220) vs Valentin Moldavsky (-260)

Valentin Moldavsky (11-1-0) has enjoyed a dominant run in Bellator with a perfect 6-0-0 record with the promotion to date. He most recently defeated Timothy Johnson at Bellator 261 last June to win the interim Bellator Heavyweight World Championship. Moldavsky is a protege of Fedor Emelianenko but lacks Emelianenko’s stopping power with only one career knockout. Each of Moldavsky’s last four wins have come by way of decision.

Ryan Bader (28-7-0) has lost two of his last three fights, losing the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244 and then losing again to Corey Anderson at Bellator 268 in October. His one win since 2019 came against a 42-year-old Lyoto Machida.

It’s fair to wonder if age has finally caught up to Bader. Bader went 7-1 over his final eight fights in the UFC and became a two-division Bellator champion with a 7-0-0 record through his first seven fights with the promotion. But at 38-years-old and with these two recent losses under his belt, Bader clearly isn’t the dominant fighter he once was. There may be some value here on him facing an opponent that isn’t likely to knock him out, but we’ll side with the younger fighter in better form to get the job done.

Lightweight: Benson Henderson (+300) vs Islam Mamedov (-400)

Islam Mamedov (20-1-1) suffered the only loss of his professional career all the way back in 2009. He is undefeated with a 19-0-1 record since then and recently made a successful Bellator debut with a split decision win over Brent Primus. Benson Henderson (28-11-0) enjoyed a 4-0 run in Bellator after a 1-3 start with the promotion, but has cooled off over the last couple of years with losses in each of his last three fights.

This is a showcase fight for Mamedov. Henderson has only one stoppage win since 2016 and doesn’t appear to be a legitimate threat to out-point a fighter as talented as Mamedov in this co-main event. Look for Mamedov to cruise to an easy victory.

Featherweight: Henry Corrales (+105) vs Aiden Lee (-125)

Aiden Lee (10-5-0) is 3-1 over his last four fights with three stoppage wins, submitting Damian Frankiewicz and Alexander Osetrov and knocking out Jeremy Petley. Henry Corrales (19-6-0) is 2-1 over his last three fights since losing each of his previous two bouts. Corrales was 5-0 in his last five Bellator fights before those two losses.

This should be as a good of a fight as the betting odds suggest. Corrales has the experience edge here while Lee may be a bit more likely to prevent this one from going to the cards with a knockout or submission. Getting underdog odds here, we’ll take a shot on Corrales to grind out a decision win.

Welterweight: Sabah Homasi (+180) vs Jaleel Willis (-210)

Sabah Homasi (15-10-0) got off to a strong start in Bellator with three straight wins, but has since dropped each of his last two fights to Paul Daley and Andrey Koreshkov. Jaleel Willis (15-3-0) had a six-fight winning streak including a two-fight winning streak in Bellator snapped with a submission loss to Mukhamed Berkhamov at Bellator 268. We’re willing to chalk that loss up as a fluke due to his form before that fight and expect Willis to get back on track with a victory here.