Bellator 48 Should Be Hugely Entertaining

It's no secret around here that I love Bellator.  I love the smaller shows, I love the weekly events during most of the tournaments, I love the tournament format, and I love the fights (ok, except for some of the heavyweight tourney fights).  I love Bellator so much that I live blog each event for two different sites, and I continue to love it despite those people who insist on insulting them because they aren't the UFC.  Oh, and I especially love that we can watch the events for free. 

And from where I'm sitting, there's a lot to love in the coming weeks on the Bellator front.  From the featherweight tournament final to the beginning of the next welterweight tournament, with a healthy dose of feature fights sprinkled in, there's a lot of action coming up.  I take a look at Bellator 48 after the jump.

This Saturday, August 20, the Bellator banner returns to Uncasville, CT, for Bellator 48.  Headlining this event is the featherweight tournament final, between Marlon Sandro and Pat Curran.  The winner of this fight will take on Joe Warren for the belt. 

Now, I've had some harsh things to say about Pat Curran in the past when he fought at lightweight.  I still say, even after rewatching several times, that he lost the fight with Toby Imada.  He wasn't even all that impressive in his bout with Roger Huerta (though I haven't rewatched that one, I admit).  And there was never any chance he was going to beat Eddie Alvarez. 

Then he dropped to featherweight.

Pat, while I'm still not exactly a big fan, I have to say that you look like a different fighter at 145.  I gave you no chance at all against Luis Palomino, then again against Ronnie Mann.  I was so very, very wrong.   Why you ever fought at 155, I'll never understand.  Just don't ever do it again, ok?  You obviously belong at featherweight.  Let's leave it at that.

Now, having said all that, I still have to admit that I believe Marlon Sandro will be fighting Joe Warren for that title.  While Curran is much, much better at featherweight, I can't find any reason to think that he'll be good enough to beat Sandro.  Neither do I think Warren is good enough to beat Sandro, honestly. Sandro is a beast and hits like a truck.  But this is MMA and anything can happen.  What I know is that this fight should be amazing, and I can't wait!

Also worth mentioning on this card are the feature fights, which are pretty interesting.  Paul Buentello is set to take on Bellator heavyweight champ Cole Konrad in a non-title superfight.  While I suspect we all have a pretty good idea of how this fight will go, remember that there is always the chance that Konrad has been working on some other aspect of his game than wrestling.  We can but hope.

Seth Petruzelli and Ricco Rodriguez will get a chance to trade old UFC stories and maybe a punch or two in another televised feature fight.  I'm hoping Midge will get us a betting fix for this event, because I want to see who the favorite is here.  Petruzelli, who is a great, funny guy, really hasn't beaten anyone notable (unless you count Kimbo Slice) since winning a decision over Dan Severn in 2004.  Yes, 2004.   Rodriguez, on the other hand, has some good wins over some big names - back in 2002, ending with him taking the UFC heavyweight championship from Randy Couture. Arguably, his biggest recent win was over James McSweeney at BAMMA 5 back in February of this year.  Ok, so this isn't exactly a battle of MMA gods, but it should be entertaining, at least.

The 4th fight on the televised card is a lightweight match between Juan Barrantes and Rene Nazare.  Nazare is 9-0 and a BJJ black belt.  He has two previous fights for Bellator, and both fights ended in the first round.  Barrantes, on the other hand, is 7-5.  Now, 5 of his wins did come by submission, but I'm still betting he's going to be out of his league against Nazare. 

Well, that's my take on the next show.  I'll be back with a look at future Bellator events as they get closer.  In the meantime, join me here Saturday night for live play-by-play and results for Bellator 48!

SBN coverage of Bellator 48