Bellator 275 details
- Friday, February 25th, 2022
- 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
- Undisputed Middleweight Championship (185-pounds)
- The main card starts at 17:00 EST
Gegard Mousasi vs Austin Vanderford odds
- Gegard Mousasi - (-220)
- Austin Vanderford - (+165)
The two-time Bellator middleweight champion comes into this fight as the clear favorite for his second title defense since returning to the organization.
The Dreamcatcher has won 11 of his last 12 fights dating back to 2016 and earned a TKO win over John Saulter at Bellator 264 last year in his last fight. He is best price -220 with Bovada sports betting to get the victory on the night, which means you will have to stake $220 in order to see a return of $100.
On the other side of the cage will be 'The Gentleman', who is on undefeated in his professional mixed martial arts career and challenging for the title for the first time ever. He earned his title shot with a unanimous decision win over Fabian Edwards at Bellator 259 in May.
Vanderford is a best price +165 with Bovada sports betting to claim the title at the first attempt, meaning a $100 stake will see a profit of $165 if he is successful.
Mousasi vs Vanderford preview
Just a couple of weeks after the UFC's best middleweights clashed for their undisputed title, Bellator will be doing the same thing in this event and it should be just as eventful.
Mousasi holds a record of 42-7-2 professionally and has suffered defeat just once since 2016, a majority decision loss to Rafael Lovato Jr in 2019.
Since then he has gone on a three-fight win streak, which saw him claim the title back for a second time from Douglas Lima before defending it successfully too.
Vanderford is an exciting 11-0 since becoming a professional fighter and that includes a 5-0 run in Bellator since debuting in 2019.
'Mr VanZant' as he is also known because of his marriage to former UFC and Dancing With the Stars star Paige VanZant, has earned three decision wins, one win via submission and one win via doctor's stoppage during that run to earn himself a title shot and a number one ranking.
Both of these fighters are primary wrestlers, who generally look to control their opponent on the ground and land heavy ground and pound while working their excellent jiu-jitsu game from the top in search of a submission.
It will be the experience and size of Mousasi against the hunger, youth and power of Vanderford in this one and all the pressure is on the defending champion because his reputation is so much greater due to his past record.
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Been there done that
A two-time world champion with multiple defenses under his belt already, taking on someone main eventing a card for the first time in a five-round fight is a very steep mountain to climb for the underdog here.
Mousasi has been one of the very best 185-pound fighters in the world for several years, despite not competing in the UFC since 2017. But his run with the biggest organization ended with a five-fight win streak and four consecutive finishes, so it's not as if he was on the decline when he left.
Vanderford has been impressively in control of almost every fight he's been in professionally, which is mightily fine when you consider the level of competition he has faced.
The way he dealt with Fabian Edwards last time out was reminiscent of how Mousasi dominated Lima in his title fight and that says it all about this fight.
The level between the two is just too big right now and while Vanderford absolutely has the ability to get to the top of the mountain one day, he needs more experience and to round out his game a little more first.
He's not as good a wrestler as Mousasi is, plus the Dutch fighter has got better striking and has a significant size advantage too to impose himself on the challenger.
I won't be shocked if Vanderford manages to go the full 25 minutes because he's shown his talent in the past, but I expect Mousasi will get a second consecutive finish, this time by submission after some nasty ground and pound.
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