Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez takes place on Friday, April 2 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The offshore sportsbooks recently opened up the betting odds for the event, and MMAOB staff writer Adam Martin takes a look at the opening odds below.
Bellator 255 Odds
Patricio Pitbull -260
Emmanuel Sanchez +200
Jason Jackson -185
Neiman Gracie +160
Kana Watanabe -150
Alejandra Lara +120
Mads Burnell -200
Saul Rogers +160
Magomed Magomedov -400
Cee Jay Hamilton +300
Khalid Murtazaliev -185
Fabio Aguiar +155
Roman Faraldo -300
Trevor Gudde +240
Chris Gonzalez -240
Roger Huerta +190
Mandel Nallo -260
Ricardo Seixas Filho +200
Usman Nurmagomedov -500
Mike Hamel +375
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds For Bellator 255:
- The main event of Bellator 255 sees Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull (31-4) taking on Emmanuel Sanchez (20-4). This fight serves as a semifinal in the Bellator 145lbs Grand Prix, with the winner taking on AJ McKee later this year for the belt and for the $1 million grand prize. As far as this bout goes, Pitbull is coming into the fight on a six-fight win streak. He is the No. 1 P4P fighter in Bellator right now and doesn’t seem to be slowing down at age 33. In this fight, he takes on a tough test in the form of Sanchez in what is a rematch. These two actually fought three years ago, with Pitbull winning a unanimous decision in a very close fight. Since then, Sanchez has won his last three fights to earn a rematch. Pitbull is the best fighter that Bellator has to offer and he deserves to be favored against anyone he faces, but Sanchez is a very good fighter who absolutely has a chance to win this fight. I would still lean towards Pitbull to get the win, but Sanchez is going to make this a competitive fight.
- The co-main event of Bellator 255 sees Usman Nurmagomedov (11-0) taking on Mike Hamel (7-4). Usman is the cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and so far he has gone unbeaten as a professional since making his debut in 2017, with 11 wins including 10 by way of stoppage. Nurmagomedov looks like he’s going to be a contender for years to come and in his Bellator debut, he takes on Hamel, who looks to be in over his head here. Hamel is just 2-4 over his last six fights and he is coming off of a split decision loss to Adam Borics in Bellator. That was a good performance by him considering he was a heavy favorite to lose the fight, but he still lost. I can’t see Nurmagomedov losing here to Hamel.
- Another intriguing fight is a welterweight bout between Neiman Gracie (10-1) and Jason Jackson (13-4). The odds opened here with Jackson as the favorite, but the line has since flipped around and now Gracie is the favorite to win the fight. This is a close fight but I think the oddsmakers might have got it right originally. Jackson is coming off of three straight wins including back-to-back decision wins over Benson Henderson and Jordan Mein. As for Gracie, he’s coming off of a submission win over Jon Fitch. Based on the current line, it’s dog or pass.
