Bellator 281: MVP vs. Storley takes place on Friday, May 13 at SSE Arena in London, England. 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 281 Odds
Logan Storley -150
Michael Page +130
Lyoto Machida -120
Fabian Edwards +100
Denise Kielholtz +120
Kana Watanabe -140
Paul Daley -300
Wendell Giacomo +250
Luke Trainer -280
Simon Biyong +240
Daniel Weichel -160
Rob Whiteford +140
Oliver Enkamp -185
Mark Lemminger +160
Elina Kallionidou -150
Kate Jackson +130
Alfie Davis -200
Tim Wilde +170
Andrew Fisher -200
Attila Korkmaz +170
Charlie Ward -500
Alan Carlos +385
Maciej Rozanski -180
Lee Chadwick +155
Chiara Penco -300
Lanchana Green +250
Here are my initial thoughts on the Opening Odds For Bellator 281:
- The main event of Bellator 281 is a five-round interim welterweight title fight between Michael Page and Logan Storley. At age 35, MVP is finally getting his first title shot in Bellator. The Brit was originally set to face Yaroslav Amosov, but with the champ fighting the Russian-Ukraine war, the promotion created an interim title. MVP has won his last six fights in a row to get this title shot, including a controversial split decision win over former welterweight champ Douglas Lima last fall. As for Storley, he is 8-1 overall in Bellator, with his lone loss in the organization coming against Amosov by split decision. This is a striker vs. grappler fight, with Page the striker and Storley the grappler. It’s an intriguing fight and that’s why the odds opened close.
- The co-main event is a middleweight bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Fabian Edwards, the brother of current UFC star Leon Edwards. Machida is now 43 and he has lost his last three fights in a row, albeit to elite competition. As for Edwards, he has lost his last two fights in a row. Although Machida is more experienced, Edwards is 14 years younger, and you can’t ignore that large of an age gap in this fight.
