Mousasi vs MacDonald Odds – It is champion vs champion in September when Bellator’s 185 lb champ Gegard Mousasi takes on 170 lb titlist Rory MacDonald. It is also a fight between two guys that came over after considerable UFC runs. Bellator fast tracked them into their title pictures in the respective weight classes and both men came out with Bellator belts. Add a little bit of cyber-trash talking and you have yourself what passes for a superfight in the modern era.
Consider that both guys slogged for years in the UFC and though both were labeled contenders, neither made it to grab a UFC title. Mousasi flashed talent but he came to the UFC with a considerable resume and he never quite lived up to expectations. MacDonald was known more as a homegrown product with the UFC and he was also welterweight kingpin George St Pierre’s gym mate. He proved to be an upper echelon fighter with a first grader’s charima, which may have contributed to the pink slip from the UFC.
Mousasi vs MacDonald Odds
Despite the retread feel, it is a solid fight of two guys who are still near their primes and not ready to join Bellator’s geriatric league. As such, the organization would have probably been better off letting them compete consistently rather than valuing their previous resumes so highly but the truth is that these were two good adds to the Bellator roster. It didn’t take long to prove that the UFC retreads brought more talent with them than the roster previously had.
MacDonald has always been a huge welterweight. He went 0-2 in his last two UFC outings before they jettisoned him. Those losses were to Robbie Lawler, who was then champion, and to Stephen Thompson do MacDonald was still competing at the sport’s highest level. For his first Bellator fight, he took on veteran slugger Paul “Semtex” Daley a veteran of over 50 fights, finishing him with a rear naked choke. That earned him a shot at titleholder Brazilian Douglas Lima, whom he decisioned at the start of 2018.
Mousasi left the UFC on a five fight winning streak. In the rugged middleweight division that was not enough to earn Mousasi a title shot and he moved on over to Bellator. Now check out if you see a pattern here. He made his Bellator debut against Alexander Shlemenko, a veteran of over 50 fights, and he won a unanimous decision. That gave Mousasi the next title shot and he made good, stopping champion Rafael Carvalho of Brazil in the first round.
So it takes precisely one win in Bellator before you have “earned” a title shot. They repeated the pattern in the light heavyweight category, giving Ryan Bader a title shot after a debut win against Phil Davis. So the UFC guys are cutting the line and filling up the headline spots.
Mousasi is the more complete of the two fighters though sometimes he comes in with uninspired performances. MacDonald has had a few five round wars but those fights tended to fall into a repetitive pattern. Look for a motivated Mousasi to set the pace from the outset in this one.
Sat 9/29 Bellator – SAP Center – San Jose, California – Paramount Network
Middleweight 5 rounds –
Rory MacDonald +185
Gegard Mousasi -225
Mousasi vs MacDonald Odds / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science.
[related_post_one]
The Major League Baseball season is front and center. Check out the games daily!
