Bellator 222 Preview

Bellator 222 Preview

By Jack Maher

Bellator MMA returns to the ‘Big Apple’ this Friday with Bellator 222 making only their second appearance in the Mecca of combat sports, Madison Square Garden.

The last time Bellator rolled up to MSG the card was headlined by a long-overdue grudge match pitting veterans Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen against each other. Sonnen will also feature this Friday in the co-headliner against fellow veteran Lyoto Machida.

Fan-favourite Rory MacDonald puts his welterweight title on the line in the main event, against the 9-0 Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt Neiman Gracie in the semi final of Bellator’s welterweight Grand Prix.

Normally MacDonald would be a comfortable favourite over Gracie, given his status as one of the best welterweights in the world but his less than stellar showing in his last fight as well as some of his post fight comments has fans questioning his hunger heading in to Friday’s fight.

MacDonald fought to a majority draw with Jon Fitch in his last outing, but advanced in the tournament due to his status as champion. MacDonald said after the fight that he finds it “Hard to pull the trigger” as well as saying “I don’t know if I have that same drive to hurt people anymore.”

Gracie however will not be suffering from the same motivational issues heading in to the biggest fight of his MMA career to date, and will be looking to secure his 9th career submission to rip the title away from the ‘Red King’. The winner will meet former champion Douglas Lima in the tournament final later this year, with the 170lb title and a $1 million cash prize on the line.

Also on the card is the previously mentioned light heavyweight bout between Sonnen and Machida, which is clearly an attempt by Bellator to add some extra star power to the event to make it feel ‘MSG Worthy.’

Neither men is at their physical peak, but they are both still capable fighters, shown by Machida’s current 3 fight win streak. A highlight reel knockout of Vitor Belfort has fell between split decision wins over a then undefeated Eryk Anders and former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho.

Sonnen is returning to the light heavyweight division after a failed experiment at heavyweight, and the ‘Bad Guy’ will likely look to dominate the karate specialist on the floor, utilising his NCAA division 1 wrestling credentials to his advantage and hand Machida his first Bellator loss.

The other title fight on the main card is a rematch of Darrion Caldwell and Kyoji Horiguchi, after Horiguchi pulled off the upset against the much larger Caldwell on New Year’s Eve last year. Horiguchi hasn’t lost since falling short against Demetrius Johnson in 2015, and can pick up the Bellator bantamweight championship despite being contracted to Rizin.

Caldwell will be eager to avenge his loss against Horiguchi and keep hold of his championship, but he will require a better showing this time out against the American Top Team star.

The polarising Dillon Danis will compete in his second MMA fight on the undercard, against the 3-2 Max Humphrey. Danis’s brash personality has earned him few friends in the MMA world.

Provided Danis has shored up his striking defence he should likely prevail by submission in this 175lb catchweight bout.

Rounding off the main card are two interesting bantamweight fights, with former bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas taking on 22-1 Juan Archuleta, and Ricky Bandejas, who lost to Archuleta in a close fight last time out, taking on the undefeated Patrick Mix.

Both of these fights have gone somewhat overlooked given the high profile fighters also on the card, but the winners of either fight will feel they are deserving of a crack at the Caldwell-Horiguchi winner.