Bellator 184
Let's Talk Fights!
It's going to be another great weekend of MMA between Bellator and UFC, to include 3 title fights, and a few others where a fighter will be hoping to make a big splash in the standings.
Bellator 184 will take place Friday October the 6th at the Global Events Center at Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, OK, and feature Eduardo Dantas vs. Darrion Caldwell for the Bantamweight World Title. Bellator will be televised free on Spike starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
Bellator 184 will start the weekend with an excellent card, and the battle between Bellator and UFC on who has the best fighters seems to be heating up. I am still not sure its really a conversation, but when Larkin came to Bellator after a nice stint in the UFC, and immediately got laid out with a heavy dose of Semtex, it at least creates a little banter for MMA fans. In Bellator's headlining bout of the night, another figure that might be in that argument for UFC talent, we will see Eduardo Dantas defend his strap against the up and coming Darrion Caldwell.
Eduardo is coming in on a 4 fight win streak that includes 3 title defenses. In fact, since 2012, Eduardo has only fought once inside the Bellator Cage that didn't involve a Championship Belt. So, the belt is involved again, and with maybe the exception of Eduardo's first meeting with Joe Warren, in which he lost, his opponent this night will be another high level wrestler in Darrion Caldwell. Caldwell will carry in a 10 and 1 record, with his only loss coming by way of a 3rd round guoilitine choke to Joseph Taimangle, that he immediately avengened in his next fight.
Ok, enough with the introductions though, how does this fight play out. Both these guys love decisions, so, if there is money on this fight, bet the decision. Eduardo will most likely do what he does best, control the range, and insert strikes where applicable. The problem with that, is that Darrion is a very rangy opponent, with matching speed and range. Eduardo will be the better striker, and if he can keep this fight standing for the majority of 3 rounds, he should be able to win the decision on the judges scorecards. Darrion, I am sure, will do everything he can to prevent that from happening, but Eduardo is more mature and more skilled than most of us might think. The money is on Eduardo to win this one, and so am I.
Next up will be the always exciting, and two-time Featherweight champion Daniel Straus vs. Emmanuel Sanchez. Daniel Straus is a whirl wind waiting to explode in the cage. This guy is dynamic and exciting, and is worth the possible 15 minutes of your life. You literally have to go back to March of 2009 to find a loss on Daniel Straus's record that doesn't involve Pat Curran or Patricio Freire, and if you want to get real technical, and you want to take out NSF, dude hasn't lost to anyone besides those two guys since he was an amateur. Daniel Straus is the real deal, but two people, Pat Curran and Patricio seem to have his number. Now, Emmanuel Sanchez thinks he has Daniel's number. Emmanuel better recheck that caller ID, because, although Emmanuel brings in a shiny record at 15-3, he hasn't really tangled with the level of fighter that Daniel is, and when he has, he has lost. Stylistically these guys are not too far off from each other, and Daniel is just better right now. Daniel will pick up the decision in this one.
The rest of the card shapes up as follows:
MAINCARD
- Eduardo Dantas vs. Darrion Caldwell TITLE FIGHT
- Daniel Straus vs. Emmanuel Sanchez
- Pat Curran vs. John Macapa
- Joe Taimanglo vs. Leandro Higo
UNDERCARD
- Steve Kozola vs. Carrington Banks
- Justin Patterson vs. Chance Rencountre
- Manny Muro vs. Emmanuel Rivera
- Sean Holden vs. Shakir McKillup
- DeMarcus Simmons vs. Jarod Trice
- Ray Jones vs. Ernest James
We would be remiss if we didn't at least mention the Pat Curran vs. John Macapa fight. Pat Curran is one of the most dynamic fighters to watch in any mixed martial arts organization, but he is coming off a relatively long layoff after receiving a punctured lung in his last fight, that, oh by the way, he finished and won. John Macapa won't allow him any time to shake off the ring rust. Macapa is coming for the top and although he is coming of a loss to Daniel Weichel, Macapa plans to make some noise. John is the king of the split decision, he has 4 in the last 5 fights. So I expect this one to be close, but the experience of Pat will pay off in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Look for a split decision win for Pat as he makes his climb back to the top.
Well, leave a comment, let me know what you think, and then join us on Facebook at Ground Zero MMA.
