Bellator 266 main card preview & best bets – Saturday 18/9/2021

Yoel Romero will make his promotion debut against Phil Davis in the main event of Bellator 266 this Saturday night. Neiman Gracie clashes with Mark Lemminger in the co-main event of this Saturday’s card in San Jose, California, which should provide plenty of entertainment from start to finish. Here’s a preview of the five fights on the main card.

Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis (-129) vs Yoel Romero (+109)

Yoel Romero’s last professional win came back in February of 2018 against Luke Rockhold. Romero (13-5-0) was 12-1 before losing four of his last fights and each of his last three fights in the UFC. To Romero’s defense, those four losses came against Robert Whittaker (twice), Paulo Costa, and Israel Adesanya; the top three ranked middleweights in the UFC today.

Phil Davis (22-6-0) is a former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. He is 9-3 over his last 12 fights with the promotion. Those three losses have come against former double division champion Ryan Bader and current light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov, two of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in Bellator.

So both of these fighters have had success against everyone but the elite. Which one will come out on top here? It’s close, but given that Romero is 44-years-old and coming up in weight, we lean towards Davis earning the win in this one in what should be a great fight.

Welterweight: Neiman Gracie (-270) vs Mark Lemminger (+230)

Neiman Gracie (10-2-0) has lost two of his last three fights since going 9-0 over his previous nine professional bouts. Mark Lemminger (12-3-0) has opened his Bellator career with a 2-2 record, most recently defeating Demarques Jackson at Bellator 260. Nine of Gracie’s 10 career wins have come by way of submission, and this matchup feels like one that he should dominate en route to another submission win.

Women’s Flyweight: Alejandra Lara (-160) vs DeAnna Bennett (+140)

Alejandra Lara (9-4-0) had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a split decision loss to Kana Watanabe at Bellator 255 to fall to 2-3 over her last five fights. Deanna Bennett (10-7-1) started off her career with an 8-0 record, but has since gone just 2-7-1 over her last 10 fights including a submission loss to Liz Carmouche in her Bellator debut last September. Lara has at least been competitive with a 2-2 record over her last four fights and both of those losses coming by split decision; she should have enough to pick up the win here.

Lightweight: Saul Rogers (-118) vs Georgi Karakhanyan (-102)

Saul Rogers (14-4-0) is 2-3 over his last five fights with a 2-2 record through his first four fights in Bellator. Georgi Karakhanyan (31-11-1) is 3-3 through his first six fights with Bellator but is 3-1 over his last four fights, most recently picking up his second straight win with a submission victory over Keifer Crosbie at Bellator 263. This is a fairly even matchup that could go either way, but we’ve seen more from Karakhanyan on the Bellator stage and are happy to take a shot on him at this price.

Light Heavyweight: Christian Edwards (-1000) vs Ben Parrish (+600)

Christian Edwards (5-0-0) is one of the top prospects in Bellator at just 22 years old with a perfect 5-0 record that includes two knockout and one submission. He will open the main card against Ben Parrish (4-1-0), a submission specialist making his Bellator debut after earning all four of his wins in the Summit Fighting Championship by submission. Taking a stab on Parrish to pull off a submission win out of nowhere is forgivable, but this is a showcase match for Edwards, and one he should easily win as the betting odds indicate.