Bellator 41 Fight Card and Predictions

Written by Jake Thompson
Monday, 11 April 2011 19:54

We’ll preview the Bellator 41 card with fight predictions.

Bellator 41 is set for April 16th and we wanted to take a second to make predictions on the 4 most important fights on the card.  The event will be held at the Cocopah Resort and Casino in Yuma, Arizona, and the card is headlined by a fight between Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Warren putting his belt on the line against Brazilian grappling ace Marcos Galvao.  Other Bellator 41 fights that we’ll make predictions on are Zach Makovsky against Chad Robichaux, as well as two Bellator Featherweight Tournament bouts pitting Patricio Freire against Wilson Reis and Kenny Foster against Daniel Straus.

Bellator 41 Predictions:

Joe Warren (6-1) vs. Marcos Galvao (9-3-1)

Warren is an Olympic-caliber Greco-Roman wrestler with notable wins over Patricio Freire, Joe Soto, and Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.  He’s still learning the nuances of mixed martial arts but his ability to control opponents on the ground has been enough to get him through a number of fights against quality opponents.  Warren’s one career loss was a controversial submission defeat to Bibiano Fernandes (there was confused about whether Warren actually tapped), and that could be a problem against Galvao.  The Brazilian has his black belt in Jiu Jitsu and is extremely accomplished in the spot of submission grappling.  Surprisingly, Galvao has never submitted anyone in mixed martial arts but his ability to maintain excellent positioning could be a successful counter to Warren’s wrestling.  Neither guy has shown much in the way of striking and I don’t think Warren has the skills just yet to use his wrestling to keep the fight standing in an effort to punish his ground-based opponent.  Ultimately, I think Warren can successfully dictate where this fight takes place and that should be enough to get him a decision victory.  He’ll have to be careful but I’ll call for a unanimous decision for Mr. Warren.

Zach Makovsky (12-2) vs. Chad Robichaux (11-0)

Makovsky is the current Bellator Bantamweight Champion but his belt won’t be on the line for this Bellator 41 fight.  He’s a great wrestler that shows plenty of promise but Makovsky does still have work to do in the striking and submission sides of the sport.  Robichaux will be making his Bellator debut in this fight and 10 of his 11 career victories have come by way of submission.  He has been mostly a regional fighter and his fight against Makovsky will prove a ton about where he is in the weight class.  Although Makovsky will have to be wary of the submission, I think he’ll have nice edges in wrestling and physical strength, and that should be enough for a decision victory against the scrappy Robichaux.

Patricio Freire (15-1) vs. Wilson Reis (12-2)

“Pitbull” Freire and his brother are emerging as the most exciting fighters in the Bellator crop, and the Team Nogueira product is a proven finisher who already holds a unanimous decision victory over Reis at Bellator 18.  Reis is an accomplished submission grappler and actually won the 2004 Jiu Jitsu World Championships as a brown belt.  Freire has a ton of power and damaging Muay Thai strikes, but Reis has proven himself to be one of the most durable fighters in the sport.  This is a tough matchup for Reis because Freire has a nice ground game himself and should have the physical strength to fight off many of his challenger’s takedown attempts.  This fight should go much like the first and I’m calling for Freire to get the stoppage in the 3rd round this time around.  He should be able to install a technical striking type of game plan that allows him to punish Reis while still maintaining a good distance to avoid potential takedowns.

Kenny Foster (9-2) vs. Daniel Straus (15-3)

This is the toughest fight of the night for me to make predictions on and I could make cases for either guy taking home a win at Bellator 41.  Foster was a collegiate wrestler but, like many of the Bellator wrestlers, he’s still a bit behind everyone else in the other areas of the fight game.  Straus is also still learning certain aspects of mixed martial arts but he’s proven strong in all areas because of his athleticism and natural ability to learn on the job.  I like Straus’ patient approach to fighting and it will be a key if he wants to avoid being taken down by Foster.  Ultimately, I’m calling for Straus to get the unanimous decision win because I believe he’s just a tick better than Foster and he’ll use his reach and outside striking to please the judges.