Bellator 276 main card preview & best bets – Saturday, March 12

Two of the promotion’s top featherweights will collide in the main event of Bellator 276 as Mads Burnell takes on Adam Borics. We’ll break down that bout and the rest of the main card for this Saturday night’s event in St. Louis, Missouri.

Featherweight: Mads Burnell (-230) vs Adam Borics (+190)

Mads Burnell (16-3-0) is a perfect 7-0 over his last seven fights including a 3-0 start to his career in Bellator. Nine of his 16 career wins have come by way of submission including four of the wins in his current seven-fight winning streak. Adam Borics (17-1-0) has bounced back from the only loss of his professional career to Darrion Caldwell with three straight decision wins, bringing his record in Bellator competition up to 8-1-0 since he joined the promotion in 2017.

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Borics opened his Bellator career with five straight finishes, collecting three knockout wins and two submission wins over that stretch. But he has cooled off a bit against sterner competition, and Burnell is definitely that. Borics also hasn’t fought since last April, and taking on a fighter of Burnell’s caliber on an 11-month layoff doesn’t seem like a recipe for success. Look for Burnell to control this fight on the ground en route to a submission or decision win.

Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis (-300) vs Julius Anglickas (+240)

Phil Davis (23-6-0) picked up a decision win over Yoel Romero in the headline event of Bellator 266 in September. Since October of 2014, Davis has lost two fights to Bellator Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader and two fights to Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov. Against all other opponents, Davis is a perfect 11-0-0 over that stretch.

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Julius Anglickas (10-2-0) had a nine-fight winning streak that included a 3-0 record in Bellator snapped last October when he was submitted by Vadim Nemkov in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals. This fight will be a great litmus test for Anglickas and will give him a chance to prove himself against one of the world’s best light heavyweights. Davis’s experience and proven track record against non-champion opponents make him the pick in this one, however.

Middleweight: John Salter (+240) vs Johnny Eblen (-300)

Johnny Eblen (10-0-0) is undefeated through his first 10 professional fights with a 5-0 record in Bellator and five knockout wins on his resume. John Salter (18-5-0) just had a three-fight winning streak snapped in a knockout loss to Gegard Mousasi. Eblen is the clear favorite in this fight for a reason; he’s younger, more polished, and is an excellent striker. But Salter won’t necessarily be a pushover; he’s got 10 submission wins and seven knockout wins under his belt and an 8-2 record in Bellator. The favorite will probably win, though at this price we’ll take a stab on the veteran to steal this one with a well-timed submission maneuver.

Lightweight: Jay-Jay Wilson (+125) vs Gadzhi Rabadanov (-155)

Gadzhi Rabadanov (16-4-1) enjoyed a successful Bellator debut with a knockout win over Daniel Carey. Now Rabadanov will face the 24-year-old phenom Jay-Jay Wilson (8-0-0), who is 5-0-0 in Bellator with two submission wins and two knockout wins over that stretch. This looks like another trap betting line that should entice tons of bettors into taking Wilson as an underdog. We’ll assume that the sportsbooks know better than we do and go with the more experienced fighter in Rabadanov here.