Bellator 249- Moving to Thursday nights, Cyborg's return, predictions, and more

Bellator 249 is live tonight from the FightSphere in Uncasville, Connecticut. This marks the move for Bellator to Thursday nights on it's new network, CBS Sports. Bellator has experimented with a few different days of the week for events in the past. Most recently, Bellator used to be on Friday nights, with the occasional Saturday event as well. I quite liked the Friday night fights, it was also nice to watch some Bellator events the night before a UFC event. When I first started watching Bellator around 2010, they used to be exclusively on Saturday nights. They then moved into Wednesday night events, however they had lower ratings on the Wednesday night events. It will be interesting to see what happens with this recent move onto Thursday night fights. It might end up being a good move for Bellator actually. Saturday nights are usually exclusively for the UFC events, as well as the big boxing events, and more. There is also big competition for Friday nights in the Combat Sports world. And not to mention everything else that people may have going on in their Friday nights. The move one day earlier may end up being the best move. Bellator might have exclusivity in the Combat Sports world with this move onto Thursday nights.

Bellator 249 features a big main event for their first event after moving to Thursday nights. Former UFC women's featherweight champ, and current Bellator women's featherweight champ, Cris Cyborg puts her belt on the line against Arlene Blencowe. Blencowe has a Bellator record of 8-3, her only losses coming against Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd (twice). Blencowe's last loss was a split decision title challenge bout against then champ Julia Budd. Cyborg earned her title by defeating Budd by TKO. Since Blencowe's last loss, she has won three straight to earn this title shot. This includes a decision victory against former UFC fighter, Leslie Smith. Blencowe has an experienced background in boxing including championship level boxing bouts. This combined with seven of her thirteen wins coming by KO/TKO makes her a very interesting style match up against Cyborg.

I'm sure most Combat Sports fans know who Cris Cyborg is. The former UFC women's featherweight champ who recently made the move to Bellator winner her debut and their featherweight bout by TKO in the fourth round. I expect this to be a fun striking match up on the feet for this fight. I also expect Cyborg to have a grappling advantage in this fight, which may end up being the deciding factor in this bout. I do not expect this fight to go the five round distance. My prediction is on a third round Cyborg TKO victory.

The rest of the main card features some great fights for this Bellator Thursday night move as well. The co-main event is a showcase lightweight bout as longtime Bellator standout Patricky "Pitbull" Freire takes on former LFA welterweight champ Jaleel Willis. Willis recently won the LFA title back at the end of August in a decision victory against Vinicius de Jesus. Most of Jaleel Willis' fights come at welterweight, expect Willis to have a size advantage in this bout. Four inches in height and five inches and reach are the number's advantage for Willis in this one. Will the weight cut and bigger show debut against a more experienced opponent be too much for Jaleel Willis in his debut, or will Patricky Pitbull pick up his fifteenth Bellator victory tonight? Either way, it will be great experience, and a great fight that I am very much looking forward to. My prediction is on Jaleel Willis getting the decision victory.

The second fight on the main card is a big bantamweight bout as Ricky Bandejas takes on Leandro Higo. Both of these fighters have been in a Bellator main event before, and both have exciting styles. My prediction is on Ricky Bandejas to get a TKO in the first round.

The first bout on the main card is Canadian Mandel Nallo from Tristar Gym against Bellator veteran, Saad Awad. Awad has fought at both lightweight and welterweight in Bellator. Despite losing his last four in Bellator, Saad Awad is still a big name and a tough challenge for the Canadian. Mandel Nallo has yet to go the distance in his professional career, all of his wins coming by stoppage. Nallo only has one loss in his career, which came in his last fight by TKO from leg kicks. Most of Awad's losses have come by decision, however I do not expect this fight to make it that far. I think Mandel Nallo gets back on the winning track by a first round TKO over Saad Awad.

View my predictions for Bellator 249: Cyborg vs Blencowe on Tapology here -->

https://www.tapology.com/profiles/thecombatjournal/predictions/72502-bellator-247-cyborg-vs-blencowe