Bellator 281: Storley vs Page main card preview & best bets

Logan Storley takes on Michael Page in a clash between two of Bellator’s top five welterweights this Friday night. Here’s a betting preview for that fight, as well as our best bets for the other four bouts on the Bellator 281 main card this week in London, England.

Welterweight: Logan Storley (-255) vs Michael Page (+215)

Logan Storley (13-1-0) has picked up back-to-back decision wins over Dante Schiro and Neiman Gracie since suffering the only loss of his professional career to current undefeated Bellator Welterweight Champion Yaroslav Amosov. Michael Page (20-1-0) has reeled off six straight wins including four knockout victories since suffering the only loss of his professional career to Douglas Lima back in 2019. Page avenged that loss with a split decision win over Lima last October at Bellator 267.

It’s reasonable to see Storley going off as the favorite here; the only blemish on his record came in a split decision loss to Armosov. But these current betting odds are skewed way too heavily in his favor. He may be a more polished fighter than Michael Page, but Page has plenty of big fight experience and is also the more likely fighter to earn a finish with his knockout power. This fight should be more competitive than these odds would indicate, so we’ll happily take a shot on the underdog getting a great price to do so.

Middleweight: Lyoto Machida (+130) vs Fabian Edwards (-150)

This is an intriguing co-main event between two middleweights who desperately need a win. Fabian Edwards (9-2-0) started his career off with a 9-0-0 run, but has since lost back-to-back fights against Costello van Steenis and Austin Vanderford. Lyoto Machida (26-11-0) has lost three straight fights by decision and is clearly past his prime at 43 years old.

Betting on a fighter with Machida’s advanced age is never super enticing, but there actually appears to be some good value on the underdog here. Machida’s last three losses have all come against top-tier opponents in Gegard Mousasi, Phil Davis and Ryan Bader, and two of those losses came via split decision. Facing a far less imposing foe here, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Machida turn back the clock with a win.

Women’s Flyweight: Denise Kielholtz (-285) vs Kana Watanabe (+245)

Denise Kielholtz (6-3-0) entered her main event title fight against Juliana Velasquez at Bellator 262 on a four-fight winning streak that consisted of two knockout wins and two submission wins. She lost that championship bout in a hard-fought split decision. Kana Watanabe (10-1-1) suffered the first loss of her professional career in a first-round knockout loss to Liz Camouche last June. The story here is similar to the one in the main event; Kielholtz deserves to be the favorite, but not this lopsided of one. Watanabe is clearly the play at this price.

Welterweight: Paul Daley (-300) vs Wendell Giacomo (+250)

Paul Daley (42-18-2) had a three-fight winning streak snapped with a decision loss to Jason Jackson at Bellator 260. Daley is heavily favored to start a new winning streak Friday night against Wendell Giacomo (9-2-0), who is making his Bellator debut. This fight was scheduled to delight the local crowd in London, who should be happy to root on England-native Daley as he rolls to an easy knockout win.

Light Heavyweight: Luke Trainer (-350) vs Simon Biyong (+285)

Luke Trainer (5-0-0) is off to an undefeated start to his young career with three knockout wins and two submission wins. Simon Biyong (7-2-0) lost his Bellator debut against Christian Edwards in June. This is another fight featuring an England native that shouldn’t have much trouble scoring a finish to get the crowd hyped up early on the main card.

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