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The final tournament of the season begins this Friday Night as eight welterweights are set to step into the cage. However, before the welterweight tournament can begin, there is a plethora of preliminary card fights that are taking place. This week’s preliminary card features a key women’s fight and a couple of up and coming MMA fighters.
Kicking off the action is a middleweight division fight as Pete “The Heat†Rogers (0-0-0) competes against Brandon Fleming (0-0-0). Pete Rogers will be making his professional MMA debut in this fight, but has not competed many times as an amateur. Brandon Fleming will also be making his professional MMA debut in this fight, but has competed a lot as an amateur. It is always a pick ‘em type of situation when two fighters make their debuts, but it will be Brandon Fleming getting the victory.
Welterweight fighters will step into the cage next as Ryan Quinn (6-3-0) stands across the cage from Marc Stevens (14-6-0). Ryan Quinn is currently undefeated in Bellator competition, having defeated Matt Lee, Mike Winters and Brett Oteri. Marc Stevens will be making his Bellator debut in this fight, but he does hold a victory over Strikeforce veteran Sterling Ford. Despite the experience disadvantage, Ryan Quinn is on a roll in Bellator and that will continue on Friday Night.
We move up to the heavyweight division for the next fight as Parker Porter (5-3-0) does battle with Randy “The Wolf†Smith (14-10-0). Parker Porter is coming off the biggest fight of his career, which was a loss to UFC veteran Gabriel Gonzaga this past October. Randy Smith has won three of his last four fights, with all the victories coming in the American Fighting Organization. This is an interesting battle in the heavyweight division, but it will be Randy Smith pulling out the big victory.
Featherweight fighters will be featured next as Saul “The Spider†Almeida (12-1-0) squares off with Matt “The Mangler†Messette (7-3-0). Saul Almeida is currently undefeated in Bellator competition, having defeated Tateki Matsuda at Bellator 48. Matt Messette has won four of his last five MMA fights, with the victories all coming in the Reality Fighting promotion. This fight could determine a future featherweight tournament competitor and that person will be Saul Almeida.
We return to the welterweight division for the next fight as Andrey “Spartan†Koreshkov (8-0-0) battles Taiwan “The Angry Dragon†Howard (9-8-0). Andrey Koreshkov is an undefeated fighter making his Bellator debut in this fight, but he holds a victory over UFC veteran Kyacey Uscola. Taiwan Howard has only won two of his last seven fights, but he does hold a victory over UFC veteran Alex Karalexis. Despite having the experience disadvantage, Andrey Koreshkov will be picking up the victory in the encounter.
Up next is a middleweight division affair as Dan Cramer (7-3-0) takes on Jeff “Scary Nickname†Nader (5-4-0). Dan Cramer has won four of five in Bellator, plus he has some UFC experience in a losing effort to Matthew Riddle at UFC 101 and defeating Matt Arroyo at UFC 94. Jeff Nader already holds a victory over Dan Cramer, which was a TKO victory this past August at Bellator 48. Jeff Nader pulled the upset the first time these two battled, but it will be Dan Cramer getting revenge this time around.
Headlining this portion of the card is a women’s flyweight division fight as Marianna “The Crushen Russian†Kheyfets (5-0-0) faces Munah Holland (3-1-0). Marianna Kheyfets has fought the majority of her career in the Xtreme Fighting Championships promotion, where she won four MMA fights. Munah Holland made her professional MMA debut in an interesting way, defeating the well-known Kim Couture at Ring Of Combat 32. This is an excellent way to cap off a large preliminary card and it will be Marianna Kheyfets remaining undefeated in the end.
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