Bellator Fighting Championships 68: Betting Preview Part II

Let’s take a look at the second two fights of the night.

Betting Odds taken from Bovada.lv

Seth Petrezelli (EVEN) vs. Carmelo Marrero (-130)

Petruzelli is best known for ruining Kimbo Slice’s career. But we’re past that, right?

He tore up Slice, but has yet to win in the UFC, having lost his first four matches. He had a big knockout win over Ricco Rodriguez in his last Bellator catchweight fight, and he’s hoping to build on that momentum against Marrero, who has a 14-5 record, only one loss better than Petruzelli’s 14-6.

Petruzelli has a lot of knockout power, but he’ll have to bide his chances with Marrero, because Marrero is good at avoiding big blows. So, he’ll look to work his angles on Marrero and deliver a big blow. The knockout factor could end up being big in this fight, especially with two evenly matched fighters.

Marrero hasn’t done so well in UFC either, though, and is just 1-3. He lost a split decision to the long Cheick Kongo and lost to Ryan Bader in a light heavyweight fight, but I don’t think he was best suited for the light heavyweight division anyway, so maybe that was a blessing in disguise. He has six submission moves, but Petruzellis is a black bet in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and he will look to utilize those powerful skills as much as possible.

In fact, I think that will likely make the difference… Petruzelli will look to land his big blows, and he will. Petruzelli wins a first round knockout here, in a fight he is a slight underdog in.

Waachim Spiritwolf (+285) vs. Marius Zaromskis (-375)

Zaromskis has had his time in the sun. AT one point he was one of the top ten welterweights n the world. Make no mistake, he is still very good, but he lost in a Strikeforce welterweight match up to Nick Diaz, and he has won only half of his last six fights, and one of them was a no contest…against Waachiim Spiritwolf. He poked Spiritwolf in the eye, and disabled him from being able to continue. So it goes.

Spiritwolf has his chance at revenge now. He’ll have to do his best, though, to avoid knockouts. Zaromskis is a great stiker, and he won his last fight in a huge knockout that dropped some jaws, and not just his opponents. Spiritwolf also has great hands and a strong knockout ability of his own, with should make this a decent fight to watch, but I just don’t see how Zaromskis can lose this, as he is the better fighter when all things are taken into account. It won’t be cool if he pokes Spiritwolf in the eye again, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Spiritwolf donning some goggles. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but tell me it is a bad idea? Zaromskis wins this due to his striking ability, and MMA oddsmakers feel the same way.