A Bellator 285 recap is something that is important for bettors to reflect on, especially if one is about to place a Bellator pick.
Bellator 285 Fight Results
Main Card Results
To open the main card at 3Arena in Dublin, Karl Moore defeated Karl Albrektsson by rear-naked choke at 3:36 in the second round. A great performance in front of his home Irish crowd.
Then there was another submission following the last when Ciaran Clarke defeated Rafael Hudson by rear-naked choke at 2:50 of the third round.
Pedro Carvalho came away with an upset victory over Mads Burnell, giving the Danish fighter his second straight loss inside the Bellator promotion. Yet another win for someone out of the SBG Ireland gym.
Leah McCourt defeated Dayana Silva via unanimous decision in the 4th fight of the main card.
Co-Main Event Slot
In the co-main event slot, legendary fighter Yoel Romero finished Melvin Manhoef in the third round via ground and pound. This was Manhoef’s final fight of his career.
For the main event, Benson Henderson absolutely out-classed Peter Queally over five rounds to a dominant unanimous decision victory.
Co-Main Recap
This co-main event was one of the most exciting fights of the night. Both men involved are MMA legends in their mid-forties, still fighting at a high level.
Romero Beating the Odds
Romero was a massive -700 betting favorite, according to MMA odds. With Bellator odds, bettors need to remember that trends show the favorites win a lot more times than the underdogs in Bellator events.
Yoel Romero started off using his world-class wrestling in the first round to dominate Manhoef on the ground with submission attempts and elbows on the ground to go up on the judges’ scorecards.
Manhoef’s Style
In the second round, both fighters decided to keep it standing. Manhoef was proven to be successful with leg kicks and trying to chop down Romero’s base.
Romero landed some very heavy shots to Manhoef’s head that looked like they did some damage. In the final round of the bout, Romero decided to not mess around and go back to his wrestling.
Manhoef’s Down
Taking down Manhoef easily to start the third round was all that needed to be done as he then unleashed vicious ground and pound until the ref stopped the fight.
Melvin Manhoef called it quits on his long MMA career after the fight and received the respect he deserves from the Dublin crowd and Yoel Romero.
Main Event Recap
A Bellator 285 recap wouldn’t be finished without mentioning the performance by Benson Henderson. To start the fight, though, Queally greeted Henderson with a very aggressive start. He threw a combination of punches after blitzing across the cage, trying to catch the veteran off guard.
Henderson weathered the storm and countered with kicks of his own and then finally got a hold of Queally to impose his game plan.
Henderson’s Dominating Performance
With a dominating performance of the first round, Henderson continued that kind of performance for the rest of the fight.
In the second round, there was a foul on Henderson for a groin kick that left Queally on the ground yelling in pain. This lost Henderson a point on the scorecards via referee Kevin MacDonald.
For the rest of the 5-round fight, Henderson imposed his will on Queally, with all of the rounds being dominant grappling performances while inflicting damage.
Betting Recap
Pedro Carvalho was the only underdog to win on the main card. He was a pretty massive underdog at +420 when he faced Mads Burnell on Friday night.
In the co-main event, Romero was a big favorite, but the method of victory hit big with Romero winning in round 3 at +700, Romero winning by KO at –190, and the over 2.5 rounds barely hits at +180.
Betting picks are tough to make; just straight moneyline plays on because of the big favorite that Romero was. But prop bets hit big on Friday night.
Main Event Betting Recap
In the main event of the evening, Peter Queally walked out to the cage in a great home atmosphere and tried to challenge Henderson early. Henderson just found his distance to counter punch, as well as dominate in grappling exchanges.
You had to pick Henderson if you were to make a Bellator pick. He is still a high-level fighter and has plenty left in the tank to make one final run at the Bellator world title bout.
The Bellator 285 recap needs to mention the crowd and how great they were in Dublin. The Irish fighters and the ones that call that part of the country home got the love they deserved.
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