Bellator 215 takes place Friday, February 15 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the full odds for the card, and here they are.
Bellator 215 Opening Odds
Sergei Kharitonov -155
Matt Mirione +115
Logan Storley -475
Ion Pascu +325
Eduardo Dantas -300
Toby Misech +220
Mike Kimbel -320
John Douma +240
Austin Vanderford -260
Cody Johns +180
And here are my initial reactions to the Bellator 215 opening odds:
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- I love the main event between Kharitonov and Mitrione. These are two of my favorite mid-tier heavyweights to watch compete, and I fully expect someone to get brutally knocked out in this one. Kharitonov is riding a six-fight win streak at the moment, and he’s 10-1, 1 NC over his last 12. He’s coming off of a huge knockout win over the durable Roy Nelson, and during his win streak he also has KOs over the likes of former UFC fighters Sokoudjou and Chase Gormley. Kharitonov has 28 career wins and 26 of those have come by stoppage, so he rarely goes the distance. However, he’s also been finished five times, including a huge upset KO against Javy Ayala a couple years ago in Bellator. Like all heavyweights, he can be knocked out at anytime, but his technical striking skill and pure power is something to behold. Mitrione is kind of in the same boat.
- Before running into Ryan Bader in his last fight and getting outwrestled, he had won four straight fights in Bellator including a KO over Fedor Emelianenko and a decision over Nelson. He’s a huge athletic heavyweight with big power, whose biggest weakness is on the mat. Kharitonov is unlikely to take this fight to the ground, and these two are most likely going to stand in the pocket and trade for the fans. Kharitonov is the better technical striker, but Mitrione can hold his own on the feet. I could honestly see this one going either way, but my gut says Mitrione pulls this off.
- In the co-main event, I fully expect Storley to run through Pascu. Storley looks like he could be a future title contender in the Bellator welterweight division while Pascu is nothing more than a gatekeeper. Bellator knows what they’re doing with this matchup. Maybe Storley can’t get the finish and has to work for a decision, but he wins.
- I’m not so confident in Dantas, though. He’s a former champ in Bellator and was at one point in time one of the best bantamweights in the sport, but he’s really fallen on hard times these last few years. Misech is a complete unknown but who knows, maybe he could surprise. This is a dog-or-pass situation in my opinion. I just know I wouldn’t feel comfortable laying that kind of juice on a declining Dantas.
- In the last two bouts, I’m pretty confident in both Kimbel and Vandeford. Both guys are prospects who Bellator likes and they have given both men favorable matchups here. Of the two, I’m more confident Kimbel gets his hand raised, but both guys should be in consideration for a parlay.
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