Bellator 48 Preview: Fight Card & Predictions

Written by Jake Thompson
Tuesday, 16 August 2011 00:09

It’s time to preview the fight card and make some predictions in this weekend’s Bellator 48 event.

Bellator Fighting Championships 48 will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and our fight card preview and predictions will hopefully help everyone make some easy money on August 20th.  The Bellator 48 main event will be a featherweight tournament final fight between Pat Curran and Marlon Sandro, while a slew of prominent names make up the rest of the main card.  Heavyweights Cole Konrad and Paul Buentello are set to do battle, while veterans Ricco Rodriguez and Seth Petruzelli should put on a show.

Bellator 48 Fight Card:

Pat Curran vs. Marlon Sandro

Paul Buentello vs. Cole Konrad

Ricco Rodriguez vs. Seth Petruzelli

Rene Nazare vs. Juan Barrantes

Nik Fekete vs. Mark Griffin

Tateki Matsuda vs. Saul Almeida

Dan Cramer vs. John Clarke

Ryan Quinn vs. Brett Oteri

Matt Nice vs. Andrew Calandrelli

Bellator 48 Predictions:

Pat Curran vs. Marlon Sandro

Curran (15-4) and Sandro (19-2) are the last men standing in the Bellator Featherweight Tournament, and the winner here will get a crack at champion Joe Warren and his belt.  Sandro is the former Sengoku and Pancrase featherweight champion and fights out of Nova Uniao.  Curran won the Bellator lightweight tournament previously but dropped the title fight against Eddie Alvarez and decided to move down in weight classes.

Curran has excellent technical striking skills but hasn’t always showed the power to do much beyond scoring points.  He has notable wins over Toby Imada, Roger Huerta, and Ronnie Mann, but does have some issues defending against wrestlers.  Curran has displayed strong submission defense and will use his speed and footwork to land strikes while staying out of harm’s way.

Sandro has big power in his hands and solid striking ability coupled with excellent submission defense.  He’s a very well-rounded fighter but will be giving up five inches in reach and that should be more than enough for Curran to win this fight.  Sandro is a bit wild with his punches and Curran’s technical prowess will prove to be the difference.  He’ll land more and has the chin to take a shot from Sandro, making a decision victory from Curran highly likely.

Cole Konrad vs. Paul Buentello

Konrad (7-0) is the Bellator heavyweight champion and an excellent wrestler.  He was the NCAA wrestling champion in 2006 and 2007, and uses his strength and size to dominate his opponents with a smothering top position.  Buentello (29-13) is an experienced striker with heavy hands and good takedown defense that will try to keep this fight from hitting the mat.

There really isn’t much to discuss here in my opinion, as Konrad will have a massive size and wrestling advantage that should easily prevail.  Buentello is a gamer but ultimately he’s almost 40 and doesn’t have the ground game to get out from under Konrad.  Look for the champion to dominate all 3 rounds and win a decision here.

Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricco Rodriguez

Rodriguez (47-11) is a former UFC heavyweight champion and a well-rounded fighter with one of the best submission games in the division.  Petruzelli (13-6) is an excellent striker and is probably best known for his 14-second knockout of then undefeated Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.  Rodriguez will enjoy a nice size advantage here and his iron chin should ensure that he gets the fight to the mat before Petruzelli can knock his opponent out.

Petruzelli is a fun fighter to watch but his ground game has hindered him in previous fights and will likely again be his undoing here.  Rodriguez has the skills to get the fight to the ground and the size to dominate once it is there.  Although you can never count out a guy like Petruzelli, I am making my Bellator 48 predictions on Rodriguez to get the first round submission victory.