Bellator 280: Bader vs. Kongo 2 takes place on Friday, May 6 at Accor Arena in Paris, France. 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 280 Odds
Ryan Bader -300
Cheick Kongo +250
Yoel Romero -270
Alex Polizzi +205
Davy Gallon -550
Benjamin Brander +400
Gavin Hughes -170
Yves Landu +145
Soren Bak -300
Charlie Leary +250
Lorenz Larkin -300
Kyle Stewart +250
Gregory Babene -125
Mike Shipman +105
Lewis Long -110
Thibault Gouti -110
Fabacary Diatta -300
Jordan Barton +250
Nicolo Solli -335
Levy Carriel +220
Katarzyna Sadura -200
Lucie Bertaud +170
Pedro Carvalho -185
Piotr Niedzielski +160
Youcef Ouabbas -250
Matthieu Duclos +210
Victor Verchere -170
Bourama Camara +145
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds For Bellator 280:
- The main event of Bellator 280 is a heavyweight title rematch between champion Ryan Bader and challenger Cheick Kongo. These two met back in 2019, with the fight ending in a No Contest due to an accidental eye poke. Since then, Bader has gone 1-2 at light heavyweight, losing his title in that weight class, while defending his heavyweight belt once. As for Kongo, he is now 46 and he has gone 1-1 since that first meeting with Bader, losing to Tim Johnson but then beating Serghei Kharitonov. Kongo is still a capable fighter, but Bader proved against Valentin Moldavsky that he’s still the best heavyweight in Bellator and is the favorite here.
- The co-main event is a light heavyweight bout between Yoel Romero and Alex Polizzi. Romero was originally set to fight Melvin Manhoef, but Manhoef pulled out with a week to go until the fight and was replaced by Polizzi. Romero is now 45 and he has lost his last four fights, albeit to elite competition. As for Polizzi, he has won his last three fights in a row. Given he’s only 30, he has a 15-year age advantage in this fight, so don’t completely count him out. That being said, Romero opened up as the clear favorite here, which isn’t surprising given his experience.
