Bellator 296 is coming up this weekend from historic Paris, France, and has a solid night of fights lined up. One of the best matchups of the night will be when middleweights Douglas Lima and Costello van Steenis meet in the cage.
Read further for a complete Lima vs van Steenis betting analysis and predictions ahead of this weekend’s event. Before you complete your betting slate for the weekend, make sure to check out this breakdown of the fight.
Lima vs. van Steenis Information
Lima vs. van Steenis
Location: Accor Arena, Paris, France
Date and Time: May 12, 2023. 4 PM ET
How to Watch: Showtime
Last Fight Record
Lima is desperately looking to get back into the win column after losing his last four bouts–most recently to Jason Jackson via decision last summer.
Van Steenis is looking to keep the momentum going, coming off an impressive submission victory over Kamil Oniszczuk last October.
Lima vs van Steenis Betting Analysis
Douglas Lima
Lima is officially a Bellator MMA legend at this point–dating back to 2011 with the company and is the former middleweight world champion. From 2011-2019, Lima was 14-3 inside the promotion. He is now coming off four-straight losses and has a lot of pressure at age 36.
The Brazilian former champion has 26 total finishes in his career; 16 TKO/KO wins and 10 submissions. Even in the later part of his career, he will still be dangerous to any of the top fighters in the Bellator middleweight division right now.
Costello van Steenis
Costello van Steenis is a 30-year-old middleweight fighter with a 6-1 record in Bellator MMA and is going to have his biggest test yet this weekend. He is 14-2 total in professional MMA, with 4 TKO/KO wins and 6 submissions.
Van Steenis trains out of the Netherlands with his main training partner Gegard Mousasi, who is headlining Bellator 296 this weekend. This matchup is the classic pairing of an older legend of the sport that needed to play gatekeeper of the top of his division against a new guy.
Updates
No injuries have been reported to Bellator MMA.
Lima vs. van Steenis Betting Preview
Bellator betting lines are usually not very interesting to go through because the events are full of massive favorites. Bellator 296 is by far the best-matched event they have had in awhile–good money lines from top to bottom.
In this middleweight bout, former world champion Douglas Lima is the slight betting underdog at +110 this weekend. His opponent, van Steenis, is at -140 right now as the favorite.
It would be logical to think these lines are only this way because of the recent performances of Lima. If he can lock back in and correct the mistakes he has made lately in the cage, this might be a fight that Lima should be the favorite in.
Before making a Lima vs van Steenis betting prediction, make sure you are able to check all the lines and prop bets for this particular fight. If you bet on MMA, you know how difficult it is to get hot with picks and you need to put in the time every weekend.
Lima vs. van Steenis Betting Prediction
Making Bellator predictions is always an interesting time because of the skill gap you see in the matchmaking, mostly on the undercards of their events. You will even see a co-main even with a -800 favorite, but that is slowly getting better.
With how close this fight is on paper, there can only be one logical pick after breaking down the film and the technical side of this matchup.
The official Lima vs van Steenis betting prediction is that Lima is going to get his hand raised on Friday night in France. He is going to be able to control the pace of this fight and will probably find his shot later in the fight. Don’t be surprised to see a finish in the third round here.
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