Bellator 275: Mousasi vs Vanderford main card picks – 25/2/2022

Gegard Mousasi will defend the Bellator Middleweight World Championship against Austin Vanderford in the main event of Bellator 275. Here’s a look at this championship bout and the rest of the main card taking place this Friday night in Dublin, Ireland.

Middleweight: Gegard Mousasi (-240) vs Austin Vanderford (+190)

Gegard Mousasi (48-7-2) is respected as one of the best middleweights in the world across any promotion. The current middleweight champion is 11-1-0 over his last 12 fights since 2016 in a stretch that includes a 5-0 record in the UFC and a 4-1 record in Bellator title fights. Mousasi’s only loss over that stretch came against Rafael Lovato Jr., who was undefeated at 10-0 when he was forced into retirement due to a brain condition called cerebral cavernoma.

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Austin Vanderford (11-0-0) will try to become just the second man since 2015 to defeat Mousasi this Friday. He is off to a perfect 11-0 start to his MMA career including a 5-0 run through Belator thus far. Vanderford enjoyed a stretch of five straight stoppage wins (three submissions and two knockouts) before his current run of three straight decision wins. The 31-year-old has looked good thus far and could be a champion in the future, but we don’t think he’s quite ready to pass this test against Mousasi, who hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.

Women’s Featherweight: Leah McCourt (+110) vs Sinead Kavanagh (-140)

Sinead Kavanagh (7-5-0) had a two-fight win streak snapped in a first-round knockout loss to Cristiane Justino at Bellator 271 in November, falling to 3-5 over her last eight fights in Bellator. Leah McCourt (6-1-0) meanwhile has compiled six straight wins since losing her professional debut in 2017 and is a perfect 5-0-0 in Bellator competition. The crowd should be fired up for this match between two Ireland natives.

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This betting line is raising some huge red flags. Given how much more success McCourt has had in Bellator than Kavanagh and the current form of these two fighters, it’s hard to understand why McCourt isn’t the favorite. She may end up getting overwhelmed by Kavanagh’s power and aggression, but it seems as likely or even more likely that she could take the fight to the ground and control it there. This line feels like a trap and makes us think the sportsbooks must know something we don’t, so we’ll take the favorite despite McCourt looking awfully tempting at this price.

Featherweight: Ciaran Clarke (-415) vs Abou Tounkara (+315)

Ciarin Clarke (4-0-0) is off to a perfect start in Bellator with two decision wins and two submission wins. Abou Tounkara (7-2-0) will be making his Bellator debut, entering the promotion coming off of a first-round knockout loss and a 2-2 record over his last four fights. This looks like a pretty clear win for Clarke, an Ireland native who the home crowd will be behind in this one.

Featherweight: Khasan Magomedsharipov (-1100) vs Jose Sanchez (+700)

The 21-year-old Khasan Magomedsharipov (6-0-0) is one of the best young prospects in Bellator with two knockouts and three submission wins already compiled on his professional resume. Jose Sanchez (10-1-0) returned from a nearly two-year hiatus in June to suffer a submission loss in European Pro Fighting 1, and now he’s making his Bellator debut against a powerhouse in Magomedsharipov. The betting odds speak for themselves in this one.

Bantamweight: Brian Moore (+375) vs Jornel Lugo (-500)

Brian Moore (14-8-0) is an Ireland native that will have the home crowd in Dublin supporting him in this main card opener. That’s about all he’ll have going for him against Jornel Lugo (7-0-0), a 26-year-old off to a 4-0-0 start in Bellator competition. Assuming Lugo doesn’t get rattled by the crowd, he shouldn’t have trouble chipping away at Moore en route to victory.